The bottom floor of Fortress-One was a crowded bustle of activity as the entire force Callie and Marie had put together gathered to rest, take stock, and examine their options. Before any of that though, there was a small celebration to be had.

Marie picked Four up off the ground as she hugged her, not caring that she was covered in blood. "I'm so glad you're alright," she said, nuzzling Four's cheek. "After everything we heard we were a little worried about all of you."

Four gave her a tired smile. "I'm okay. Three saved me."

Callie rubbed her head, smiling like the proud sister she was. "From what she told us, you all did a pretty good job saving yourselves."

Marie gently put Four down. Her exhaustion was obvious. She looked much the way the rest of her splatoon did. Somewhat gaunt in the face from expending so much ink, dehydrated, and caked in crab blood.

Her gaze travelled to the surviving members of Gamma-Three, who were all gathered along the wall. Gamma-Three had started with forty-three members, plus Four herself; now they were reduced to just twenty-four. Two had been killed when the swarm of little crabs had first appeared, a few others had died of blood loss, and the rest had sustained such terrible injuries, generally loss of limbs, that they were no longer combat effective. Even many of the remaining members had numerous cuts, scrapes and bruises, in addition to their dehydration.

When they had heard of the harrowing situation they'd found themselves in, Callie and Marie had both been horrified, and Marie blamed herself. Most of the strategy had been her idea. She'd spread their force thin to cover more ground quicker. That strategy had backfired and nearly cost them Four and her whole splatoon. She would never have forgiven herself for that.

Now, their timetable was much out of whack. Although this period of rest of resupply had been scheduled, it was supposed to be over by now. Gamma-Three's situation had caused a large delay and now Callie and Marie had some tough choices to make.

"You better get some rest, Four," Marie said. "We have to figure out where we're going to go from here."

Marie gave Four a gentle push towards the refreshment table where she could get some water to rehydrate herself, and then she and Callie headed towards one of the adjacent rooms that had once been a photo lab, but had been converted into a break room. Scylla joined them on the way, her grim expression and mantle saying all she needed to.

Ambassador Betanuss' bodyguards stood outside, looking only a little better off than the members of Gamma-Three.

"We need to have a quick word with the ambassador," Callie said. "Is she in?"

One of the guards slowly opened the door and peered inside. A moment passed during which Marie heard no words exchanged, and then Tephilla emerged from inside and stood off to the side of the door. Marie frowned, not sure what to make of this development, but she ignored it for now and pushed into the room.

Betanuss was lying on a battered old couch, her midsection severely distended from the octoling she was keeping safe in her ink sac. That was one of the first things Three had to explain when she had been brought back there. She started to get up but Callie motioned her to stay down.

"Don't get up. I'm sure you need to save your strength."

"I am perfectly fine," Betanuss insisted, but she remained lying down. "So? Are we moving out soon?"

"You still insist on coming?" Marie asked.

"Of course. I must see this through to the end. I will probably have to be more cautious but I have to continue. It is my duty."

Callie sat at the table and folded her hands. "Have you had a chance to talk with anyone from Alpha?"

"I have not, though, the impression they give off is definitely one of satisfaction. It is something I haven't seen in the army since I was reactivated."

"If this is 'em at their lowest, I'd be scared ta' see 'em at their best," Scylla commented.

"They do seem to be enjoying the feeling of victory. At the very least I hope we've instilled some confidence in them. They seem willing to go forward, but the problem is, we're not sure we should."

Betanuss frowned. "Explain."

"Our timetable is off," Marie said. "The plan was to wipe them out from Xapheerell Ward in the dead of night so we could disguise the operation as just another gang war. Most people are ignorant of the situation in the Ward so nobody would bat an eye. Unfortunately, things seem to have gotten a little out of hand. We're behind schedule, so that means it would be broad daylight by the time we got to that warehouse on the wharf."

"Not to mention people aren't going to be able to dismiss that huge pile of crab bodies and blood stained concrete around Fortress-Seven," Callie added. "Scylla's people are strong fighters but a slaughter like that is going to get investigated thoroughly.

"If it were just us then we'd definitely go forward, but we have to consider the position of the Octarian Army. It's important the army doesn't get caught in this, at least not until it's advantageous for their involvement to be known."

Betanuss nodded slowly. "I suppose that is a concern; however, I have to insist on pushing forward. I realize we have taken more losses than expected and you're concerned for the well-being of the troops, but there is a saying that there is no greater loss than an incomplete victory. We are all already assuming a great risk, we might as well go through with it all the way. Besides, are not you the ones assuming the most risk?"

Marie tried not to wince. She was right, of course. She and Callie had very public lives and while their success had brought them many valuable friends and allies it had also brought them enemies and there was no way to guess how their fans would react if they found out about this, especially their crab fans. She knew she wasn't supposed to care as long as she was doing the right thing, but Marie couldn't help it. It was just something that came with being a public figure and entertainer.

"I guess we are," Callie replied. Her mantle was kept well controlled but her eyes betrayed her own mixed feelings. "But what matters is the future of Inkopolis, and as long as it stands, the Octarians will have a buffer between it and the worst the world has to dish out. For now, at least."

Scylla frowned and gave Callie a scrutinizing look. The Ambassador stared up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking over their words before she spoke again.

"I am beginning to realize that. Certainly, we stand a better chance of survival working with Inkopolis than against it. But that is all the more reason to push forward and finish what we have started. This has to be a victory."

"I agree," Callie said, earning a raised eyebrow from Marie. Callie pulsed grey. "We've made our bed, now we have to lie in it. We can't really hide things at this point so we might as well go all out. Whatever happens is going to happen now whether we go or not. Besides, one of our objectives was to help Scylla take back the ward. Won't be able to do that if there's still a small army of crabs on her doorstep."

"We've got nothing to lose," Marie translated, and she smiled a little. "I can't help but feel a sense of role reversal here."

Callie giggled. "Well, you've taken on a lot of this job yourself, Marie. Maybe my brain just has a little extra space to work with right now."

"Maybe," she sighed. "I'm tired though. Fighting yun'brennen through all this hasn't been easy."

"I think yur both cracked for doin' this kinda' thing during yun'brennen," Scylla said. "Don' be carefull and you'll start eatin' the crabs instead a' fighten 'em."

Callie chuckled. "We've eaten at least, so we should push forward while we can, and then sleep the rest of the day."

Marie smiled. "I plan on doing just that. Alright, once Gamma-Three has a chance to collect itself, we'll head out. I'd rather just retire them for the night but I think we have to go all out. We'll leave them in reserve."

"Agreed," Betanuss said. "As for me, I hate to impose but…"

Callie sighed good naturedly. "We'll find you a means of transportation, don't worry."

Twilight had yet to arrive when Gangrin dragged himself on deck. Even Marsh, eager as he was to work on a fishing ship, was groggy and slow. The captain greeted them with a smile and handed them each a mug of cocoa to stave off the terrible chill in the air.

Captain Grappa Hooker was a burly inkyar with strong arms and shoulders from decades working hard on a fishing boat. He had darker skin and a teal-blue mantle, but dark-brown eyes.

"Sorry lads, today's a bit of an early starter. Got some extra work comin' in."

Gangrin accepted the mug without a word. Marsh managed a smile.

"Are we going to collect some special kind of fish that only comes out this early, Captain?"

Hooker grinned. "Actually, not too far off. Just someone asking us to pick up some stuff dropped in the ocean. Basically, cleaning up the bottom of Inkopolis bay, then we haul the stuff up with our crane and deliver it to 'em."

Gangrin arched an eyebrow, orange caution spots appearing in his mantle. "That's a little odd, isn't it?"

The captain chuckled. "Yeah, it is. I think there are some kind of valuables down there that they've been finding with the junk." He pulsed grey. "Not really our place to question, we're just trying to make a living, and as far as we know, we're just doing a simple job."

Gangrin supposed he could accept that. The captain was just looking out for himself and his business and taking advantage of the opportunities given to him. His parents had done the same and prospered as a result, even if they did get caught in the end, but it seemed the captain was giving himself an alibi by remaining ignorant of what was really going on. Smart, he supposed.

Twilight finally dawned by the time their ship, the Salty Maiden slipped its moors and entered the bay. Gangrin and Marsh were posted up on either side of the bow, looking for a small round buoy bobbing up and down. They found it just as the glowing disk of the sun started to appear over the horizon.

The ship slowed as they neared the buoy, and Marsh spotted several more nearby. Evidently, they needed to get them all.

A crewman named Jak tossed out a line with a hook on the end at the buoy, letting him reel it in. From there, he'd hook the cable attached to the buoy to their crane, operated by another crewman named Gav, and hoist it up.

What came up were wooden packing crates, nothing really worth noting, which was probably intentional. The crates were then stacked amidships. Jak explained that once they arrived at their customer's wharf they would simply come aboard and carry the crates off themselves.

By the time the sun was fully visible, they had retrieved all of the crates and were heading back into the bay. Part of Gangrin was actually excited to see an aspect of the slightly shadier side of the business world. It would be useful later in his life, he was sure.

As he leaned his back against the railing at the bow, Marsh came up beside him, his gaze drifting over the shore as they approached.

"What do you think Miazama and Tephilla are getting up to? They've been kinda' weird the last few days."

Gangrin huffed. "Don't know, don't care. Whatever it is, it can't be pleasant if they have to be Tani's servants. I don't care what her stat sheet says, she's not a good leader."

Marsh looked at him, doubt clear in his expression. "Her stats? You're still hung up on that?."

Gangrin winced and slouched deeper. "You know what I mean. Even someone with servants is a leader of some kind, and she's obviously not a good one. After working under the captain for a few days I figured you'd know that too."

"I'm not saying I like her either, but she is tough at least. Maybe she got better at leading."

"That fast? I doubt it."

March narrowed his eyes. "You're jealous."

Gangrin glared at him. "You seriously think I'm jealous of her?"

"Yeah. I've seen it tons of times before. Someone you don't like is better at something you care about than you are and you don't like it. You don't want to admit she actually knows what she's talking about. She's even close to some other turfers you like."

Gangrin's glare intensified, his mantle rippling red. "I am not jealous. She's just lucky, that's all. We only got a peek into her life, what's actually going on might be totally different."

Mash glared back at him. "She's got skill. We saw it. You just don't want to admit you were wrong about her and–."

"What are you lads jawin' 'bout?" Gav asked, as he and Jak strode up to them.

"Two spry young lads talkin' alone. It's got ta' be 'bout someone pretty," Jak grinned.

"She's not pretty," Gangrin said, unwilling to entertain the adult's game. "Not even a little bit. Besides, she's two years younger than me."

"Fights better than you though," Marsh quipped. Gangrin refused to acknowledge his comment.

"A feisty one, eh?" Jak smiled nostalgically. "Aye, that sounds like one worth lookin' into."

"Only on paper," Gangrin grumped. "You couldn't pay me to date her, much less marry her."

"Ah, that's what they all say," Gav said. "Ya' might not think she's pretty now but give 'er a few years and ya' probably won't be able to take yar' eyes off 'er."

Gangrin snorted, his mantle a ruddy brown. "Yeah, right."

The Salty Maiden slowly pulled up to the wharf. Gangrin tried not to feel unsettled as he saw crabs on the shore tie the ship to the wharf. The incident in Xapheerell Ward was still raw and he honestly couldn't wait to get out of there.

As the gangplank was lowered, an old, crusty-looking crab shuffled his way up and onto the deck. He was followed by half a dozen more crabs.

"Prompt and quick as always, Captain Hooker," the crab said. His eyestalks pointed in Gangrin and Marsh's direction, narrowing in a way that seemed predatory. "And I see you've brought the new little crewmates I heard about."

Captain Hooker looked slightly puzzled. "You… heard about them?"

"People talk. I know how I look, Captain, but I do have something of a social life. As an immigrant to this country, I've found it quite helpful in helping me adapt to this social environment."

"Oh… okay then. Anyway, here's your delivery. A few more than usual, I'd say."

"Yes, and perfectly timed. I must say, Captain, I appreciate your diligence. I'm actually sorry I have to do this."

Puzzlement and concern washed over Hooker's face and mantle, and Gangrin developed a very uneasy feeling. Suddenly something knocked him down from behind, and he heard Marsh gasp a second later. They both fell onto the deck, then Gangrin felt an ice cold vice around his neck.

"Don't move," a raspy voice gurgled.

"What's going on?" Hooker demanded as he, Gav, and Jak were grabbed by the burly crabs.

"It's nothing personal, Captain. As I said, I have valued you, but I'm in a bit of a troubled spot, and you and your crew may be my best way out. Cooperating is your best chance of survival, so I would advise you all to do so."

He clicked something and then Gangrin felt himself get hauled up, his arms tied tightly behind him. "No funny stuff," his captor hissed, and he and the rest of the crew were forced off the boat into the nearby warehouse.

Hani looked through her binoculars, watching the crabs take the last crate off the ship tied to the wharf. It was the same ship they had reported before, but there was no sign of the crew.

She shifted her attention to the stack of old crates behind the warehouse that Delta-Three was climbing, trying to peek through the windows to see what was going on inside.

Hani yawned and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted after having stayed up for more than 24-hours, but this was the last stronghold the enemy had, their last beachhead in Inkopolis. If they won here, it would be over, at least for a while. Then they could all rest easy.

She checked her watch: 07:09. This was much later than they'd planned, but she understood Callie and Marie's logic. They couldn't wait until tomorrow night because it would mean going without the support of Alpha Company, and who knew what other developments might happen within that time.

"Delta-Six to Delta-Lead."

Hani keyed her mic. "Delta-Lead, go ahead."

"Searched the West side of the wharf. No sign of any crabs, passages, or hidden supplies. Moving onto the North side."

"Acknowledged Delta-Six. Proceed. Delta-Lead out."

Delta-Six was conducting an underwater search around the wharf, just looking out for any supplies or hidden forces. After the ambush at Fortress-Seven, they wanted to be double sure. She was concerned that some might be hiding on the ship, but that was much more containable than a large assault from the bay. The water was actually warmer than the air right now, but Delta-Six was sure to be very cold when they emerged.

"Delta-Three to Delta-Lead! We have a situation." She paused before adding. "It's very not good."

"Hostages?"

Marie was walking in front of Beta Company, the left wing of their three-column formation heading down to the wharf, with Alpha on the other flank and poor, battered Gamma in the middle. They were less than twenty minutes from reaching the wharf, and the last thing Marie wanted to hear was that the crabs had taken hostages. She honestly would have preferred to hear about a waiting ambush.

"How many?" Three asked.

"Delta-Three reports five inklings, including two teenagers."

Marie felt her blood roil in her veins, her yun'brennen kicking in to add more fuel to the fire threatening to flash ignite within her, but she suppressed it before it had a chance to wake the sleeping beast inside her.

"At least we know ahead of time," Callie said, ever the optimist. "Any chance of rescuing them before we arrive?"

"It is highly unlikely," Hani said, putting additional stress on her words. "There are at least one-hundred crabs inside, and there's something else in there that we aren't able to see but there's something in the back room where they are bringing those crates from the ship. We don't know what it is yet but I am concerned."

"One thing at a time," Marie said. "Let's think about this. The only reason they'd be using hostages would be to try and keep us away. To do that, they'd have to show us the hostages which means they'll have to bring them out of the warehouse to stop us from getting too close."

Marie's mind whirred with calculation, imagining different scenarios and outcomes, all while picturing the basic layout and dimensions of the wharf in her head. She had no doubt that the crabs would kill the hostages without hesitation, so whatever they did it couldn't count on their restraint. Slowly, the kernel of an idea formed in her mind, something that just might work.

"Keep everyone moving. Agent 1, 3, 4, and 8, meet up at Gamma's position and we'll discuss what to do. Agent 1, bring Scylla too."

Their acknowledgements received, Marie went to her second in command and gave her instructions to keep the company moving. She then hurried to meet with the others, hoping that this plan would work better than her last one.

Gangrin sat on his knees, his arms bound behind him. The smell in the crab's warehouse was awful, worse than dying fish. There were a lot of crabs there too, and each one seemed to regard them with hatred, giving them baleful glares that only grew more hateful if their eyes ever met, so he kept his gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry lads," Captain Hooker whispered. "I knew that old crab was up to something but I didn't think it was anything as bad as this. I was in dire straits, is all. No excuse, I know, but I was just…"

"It's okay, Cap," Gav said softly. "Ya' can't be blamed for tryin' to save yer' business or our jobs. 'Sides, who coulda' predicted somethin' like this?"

"We should'a known somethin' was up when practically all the shoals fled Xapheerell," Jak muttered under his breath. "Security was awfully quiet about all that too. Makes you wonder."

"But why are they holding us hostage at all?" Gangrin whispered. "The only reason they would is if they wanted to use us as leverage for –," he was cut off by a sharp blow to the back of his head that knocked him forward onto his face. His vision swam and the back of his head began to throb painfully.

"Stop talking," a large crab clacked at them. "Molugh only said he needed you alive. Only reason you still have your limbs is because it makes it easier to haul you around." Bubbling with irritation, the crab moved on.

Gangrin groaned, trying to keep the contents of his stomach inside as he tried to right himself.

"Easy there, lad. Move slowly now. That blow looked like it 'urt."

Gangrin gritted his beak, his eyes tightly shut as he fought through the pain and discomfort as he managed to get back onto his knees. "I'll live. But we'd better not talk if we're just going to end up getting hit. We'll just have to hope Security sends the Enforcers to rescue us or the crabs get what they want and they let us go."

Captain Hooker seemed to agree, as he settled down and stared hard down at the ground. No doubt he was trying to come up with some escape plan. Gangrin didn't bother; he knew it was pointless. There were probably around one-hundred crabs within the warehouse. It would take an army of inklings to get through so many. Even Enforcers couldn't get around the fact that crabs were immune to ink. Instead, his mind filled with regret, dreams unfulfilled, bad choices, maybe even wrong points of view. Had he not tried to ditch Work Detail that day, would he still be in the position he was in now? He thought about these things for a while until, eventually, the crabs forced them all to stand and marched them outside the warehouse into the early morning light.

Despite the sun's direct rays, it was still cold outside. Much colder and it would be prime snow weather. Being so close to the bay also made the air damp and all the more chilly. He was glad the crabs had let them keep their jackets.

As they were marched out among the multitude of crabs, he saw a large group approaching the wharf in three distinct columns, no, a huge group, a genuine army descending on the wharf. There had to be over two-hundred of them.

He and the others from the Salty Maiden were forced back into a kneeling position in front of the crab group. The crabs appeared anxious as they stared at the army of… octolings? Yes, it was octolings coming towards them, but there was also –.

"The Squid Sisters?" Jak breathed. "What are they doing here?"

The crabs must have considered the question quite apt because nobody hit him. Whatever their reason, however, Callie and Marie were indeed leading two of the three columns, with a young, red inkyora leading the column in the middle. When the army came to a halt, it was she who stepped up and addressed the crabs.

"I 'ope you're all out 'ere 'cause you wanna give up," she said, her Xapheerell accent coming through strongly.

"I never give up," Molough replied evenly, and he gestured with a weathered claw in the crew's direction. "If you haven't realized it on your own, allow me to inform you that I have taken hostages. In fact, I bet you know some of these."

"Aye, I do," she said, and Gangrin winced. If she was smart she wouldn't have said that. The last thing you want to do is strengthen your opponent's negotiating position. "So what do you want for 'em?"

"For you to leave and not come back. This wharf is off limits. Depending on how things develop and how much I can trust you, I may gradually let them go."

The red girl's mantle turned a dark purple. "Why should I trust you either? 'Ow can you guarantee you won't just off 'em whenever you feel like it?"

"You don't," Molough replied bluntly. "But you don't have any choice but to do as I say." He made a gesture and one of the crabs wrapped his claws around Marsh's neck. The red inkyora's mantle darkened to black.

"Before ya' do anything," she said, darkly, "'ave you put any thought into what I'd do to ya when I nabbed ya?"

"So much as take one step towards me, and you'll be minus one more child. Given how poorly your population is doing these days, I doubt you can afford to lose him."

"Leave the kids alone," Captain Hooker hissed. "If ya' had any self-respect you'd –," he was cut off as he was knocked down, hard by one of the crabs behind him. Gangrin winced at the force with which his head struck the concrete. When the crab hauled him back up, a bloody smear was left on the ground.

"Now then, unless you have a better offer, I suggest you leave now."

The inkyora only glowered at him. "I'm not goin' anywhere." Then Gangrin's throat dried up as she took one step forward. "You're the one that's leavin'."

Gangrin heard the sound of a familiar object being tossed through the air, and the telltale thumps before the splat bomb rolled in front of him. It swelled rapidly and he shut his eyes just before it burst.

Molough stared in bewilderment as his hostages exploded in a shower of multi-coloured ink. Then a savage war cry sounded from the East as a large group of inklings and a handful of octolings leapt up from the water onto the wharf and charged them. Another cry sounded from the shoreside as the large army of octolings likewise surged ahead.

"Hold them off!"

Mologh forced his way back through his assembled crabs. Most of them were not fighters, more used for logistical and administrative work, but they were still crabs and they were many. They might not win on their own, but they wouldn't have to.

The group from the water took barely seconds to reach the area the hostages had been. Armed with crude implements they inexplicably hurled themselves against the wall of crabs. Sprays of blood could be seen from their first victims, and soon, a chorus of ink weapons from the shoreside followed, showering the first rows of crabs in dark-purple ink.

Mologh made his way into the warehouse, ordering the handful of crabs remaining inside to get out and help. They understood what he was about to do and how dire the situation was, so they hurried out. They certainly didn't want to be in the way.

Mologh reached the back of the warehouse and began to undo the latches keeping the large, iron doors closed. With all the strength his old body could muster, he forced the doors apart and spoke into the darkness within.

"Gung, Bungo, time to come out."

Four tried her best to ignore the horrible chill she felt just coming out of the water and being forced to fight for her life and those of everyone around her in the winter air. Only her constant movement and her drive to survive kept her from freezing up. Well, maybe the hot blood splashing over her from the crabs she was killing helped a little too, but she was trying not to think about that.

She heard a few screams as some of the people around her lost climbs or suffered bad cuts, but she was barely able to look after herself in the mayhem. The crabs were fighting back desperately, making them work hard for every inch of ground and every life they took. Many of them were simply getting drowned in the sheer volume of ink being hurled at their outnumbered force. In a way, it wasn't unlike the situation Gamma-Three had been in mere hours ago, but Four had less sympathy for hostage takers.

"Keep it up!" Three hollered over the din. "They're breaking!"

Three slammed her hero roller onto the head of a burly crab, crushing his eyestalks before knocking him down and letting one of Scylla's people bring a sledgehammer down on them.

Marie's plan had been risky but it worked. Out of sight from the crabs, Scylla's shoal, and all agents other than Marie and Callie would drop into the bay and swim underwater to the wharf. Once there, they listened and positioned themselves as best they could. While Scylla kept them talking and distracted, the Agents would wait for an opportunity and send splatbombs of non-lethal ink into the midst of the hostages, splatting them but not permanently. This would make it much more difficult for the crabs to kill them as all of them sprung up from the bay and attacked.

It was the first major part Scylla's shoal had been able to play in the operation since Fortress-One and they'd been eager to do their part. They tore into the crabs with a year's worth of frustration and anger, compensating with sheer guts and fury what they lacked in skill.

As Four stepped behind the front line to catch her breath, then she saw Eight suddenly tense up and start looking around. When she met Four's eyes, she said, "Something's coming."

Four didn't have time to feel dread before something burst out of the warehouse and made a horribly loud and deep hissing sound, like a rush of steam. Out of the dust, a pair of massive forms, easily as big as the octosamurai appeared.

"Giant crabs!" Someone hollered, shock, fear, and disbelief in their voice. Even the crabs themselves weren't sure what was going on, but they quickly parted to make way for the two behemoths as they lumbered towards them, making all kinds of terrible noises.

Scylla's people started to run, throwing themselves back into the bay. The octolings wavered but stood their ground, raising their weapons to fire.

Three glared at the giants and tapped her roller against the ground. "When will the villains learn that superweapons don't work?"

Eight came up beside her and gave her a playful rub on her cheek. "I suppose everyone needs somebody to teach them first."

Four sighed and readied her splatlings. "Sure, but why does it always have to be us?"

"Because we're the best teachers," Three said, staring unmoved at the crabs as they came at them. "Same plan as always, hit the weak spots. They'll be even easier to hit at that size."

"What about all the other crabs?" Eight asked.

"Let the others worry about them. Go!"

The three agents charged the two titans. Four actually felt oddly comfortable fighting them. It was almost like a return to the familiar. Taking out a couple of genuine monsters was not something that would keep her up at night.

One of the crabs was more red, the other a bit more blue. Three guided them to the red one first.

The red one brought up it's claw and slammed it down towards them. They all dove out of the way easily, but the impact cracked the concrete of the wharf. They did not want to get hit by that.

They tried to get around behind it, but the blue one moved in the way. So, they were big but they didn't seem to be as brain dead as the Great Octoweapons had been.

They fired up at the blue one, trying to hit its eyes, but Four's splattlings couldn't reach and Eight's octoshot was almost completely out of momentum by the time it reached that height. This was going to be tricky.

While they were engaging the large crabs, the rest of their little army recollected itself and resumed attacking, doing their best to keep the rest of the crabs busy while the agents dealt with the supercrabs.

The three of them split up, trying to attack the crabs from multiple angles. The crabs countered by putting their backs against each other, making it difficult for any of them to jump on top of them. Difficult, but not impossible.

Three changed to squid form and managed to superjump high above them, landing directly on the head of the blue crab. She smacked one of the eye stalks of the crab with her roller, causing the beast to howl in pain. Before Three could hit the other one, the best dropped to its side and tried to roll onto it's back. Three was forced to leap off to avoid being crushed.

The red crab surged ahead, rapidly covering the distance between it and Three, who was stuck trying to fight off a group of opportunistic crabs trying to take her down.

"Stay away from her!"

Eight used a nearby scaffold to leap onto the red crab's back and climb onto it's head. But before she could attack its eye stalks, the stalks retreated down into its head and it swept its large claws over it's carapace, forcing Eight to jump down to avoid being hit. But she landed right next to Three, and peppered one of the regular crabs attacking her in the face with her octoshot before she body checked it to the ground.

The red crab howled and swung its massive claw downwards. Three and Eight just barely avoided it, and an unfortunate crab was struck by the claw's tip, knocking it down, but not actually injuring it.

Four, meanwhile, was trying to keep the blue crab occupied now that it was on its feet. It tried to ignore her to go and help the red crab, but her persistence eventually got to it and it tried swinging at her.

The crab's swings were powerful and pretty fast once they had momentum, but its movements were predictable and not even its abundance of additional limbs could help it pin Four in place as long as she kept her distance. Unfortunately, keeping her distance meant that she couldn't hurt it anymore than it could hurt her.

Suddenly, the sound of angriy clicks and bubbles through a megaphone or PA system, broke through the din of battle. The crab language was indecipherable to Four but the two big crabs understood it completely and both abandoned their attack on the agents, stalking towards the front line.

This was bad. If the crabs were able to wreak havoc on their companies then the rest of the crabs could come in and start picking them off. Even if they still won this fight, the cost would go up dramatically. They had to do something.

Three, Eight, and Four ignored their own exhaustion, their bodies begging them for a break, and charged after them.

From the top of a nearby hirise, Avrika had a perfect view of the battle as this new stage of it unfolded. The two hulking crabs reminded her of the propaganda she'd seen of the Great Octoweapons. They had all been defeated by the inkling agents single-handedly, but these two seemed to be giving them great difficulty, and now their wrath was descending on her own people.

"What are those things?" Tephilla asked in a fearful tone.

"Monsters is what they are," Miazama replied, her eyes mixed with bewilderment and fascination. "But this is like something from a horror movie. How are we gonna' stop those things?"

Avrika had no doubt that the inklings would find some way of defeating them. What worried her was how many would fall before that happened?

Busy attacking the regular-sized crabs, the army formation was caught off guard by the sudden redirection of the giant crabs. Callie, Marie, and the other officers shouted orders while Scylla was still trying to put her force or irregulars back together just beyond the wharf.

They tried to spread their formations, make it more difficult for the giant crabs to take them out all at once, but there just wasn't enough time.

At the last minute, the crab force opened two broad lanes in their formation to let the giants through. The red one swept its claw through one of the Alpha Company splatoons, sending many of them flying to land roughly on the pavement. Probably not enough to kill, but she could already see some with broken limbs and they were now vulnerable to the crabs as they rushed forward to take advantage. Only Agent 3's timely super jump in front of them followed by a few savage swings of her roller bought the splatoon enough time to recover, halting the crab's advance, but for how long?

Those facing the blue giant fared little better as they managed to scatter faster but that meant those who were hit got hit harder, as one poor soldier was hit by the crab's swing and hurled against the warehouse wall, dying instantly.

Gamma Company, however, fought back viciously, many of them running in to strike the crab with their weapons. Most of them did nothing against the thick armour and many fell prey to swipes and swings of the crab's smaller limbs, however, they did manage to do some damage as trickles of blue blood leaked onto the concrete around its legs.

"Should we run?" Tephilla asked, looking up at her expectedly. "Our job is to keep you safe, and even if we're up here, those crabs could probably knock this building down."

Part of Avrika agreed with Tephilla. Things looked bad and she had a duty to protect her life as the Octarian ambassador, not to mention the charge she now carried within her. But a larger part refused to abandon her post, refused to give up hope. Things look bad, but she stubbornly refused to believe that another enemy could do better against the inklings that had caused the Octarians so much grief.

"It'll be fine," Miazama insisted. "We're a little off balance but we 'aven't lost yet." She pointed to where Agent 4 was helping Beta Company hold off an attempted advance on them by the crabs again. By now their lack of numbers was showing and there were fewer crabs to come against them.

In the middle of the battlefield, Hachiko kept trying to occupy the giant crabs with whichever soldiers happened to be around her. Avrika could see Vella down there with them and bit her bottom lip hard as she just narrowly avoided an attack from the red giant crab.

"They can't even hurt them though," Tephilla pointed out. "What are we going to do?" Her tone was less disparaging and more thoughtful.

"We're not leaving," Avrika said firmly. She needed to sound confident, for their sake. "We haven't lost, this is just an unexpected development. They'll think of a way to take those crabs down, they only need to find their weakness." She frowned. Speaking of plans… "Where are Callie and Marie?"

"Over there!" Tephilla pointed in the direction of the ship. Callie and Marie were dragging a long, thick rope with them.

"Are they gonna' try and trip 'em up?" Miazama wondered out loud. "I don't think that's gonna' work with how many legs they've got."

"Then that probably isn't its purpose," Avrika said. "Let's watch and see."

Callie and Marie were closest to the red crab as it tried to attack the group Agent 3 was helping to defend. The giant crab ignored them until they got closer, by then, the two agents had gotten close enough to wrap each end around the bottom legs of the crab and pull. The crab tilted forward, but of course, it had its other legs to fall back on, stopping it from falling flat on its face. It reached behind itself with its claws but Callie and Marie seemed to have anticipated this, and with some very impressive acrobatics they managed to tie the two claws together with the rest of the rope, robbing the giant crab of two of its most potent weapons.

"I thought that only worked in cartoons," Miazama said in awe.

"I suppose that just makes it all the more unexpected." Avrika didn't know what cartoons were, exactly, but she figured it made sense anyway.

The red crab howled angrily and clicked it's mandibles as it stumbled back towards its blue comrade who had just noticed its distress. Unfortunately for it, the blue crab's gill openings and face were now in range of the Octarian octo shots, and every soldier blasted it with ink coating the front of the crab in purple. It coughed and sputtered but it didn't slow down until it reached the blue one. But as the blue giant leaned down to cut the rope with its massive flaws, Callie and Marie used the red crab's back as a platform to reach the back of the blue crab, firing ink into its face as they did so.

Now Scylla's force finally engaged, hurtling themselves into the main crab force, trying to keep them occupied while the wounded limped to safety. The agents also found their way onto the back of the blue crab, all of them attacking together. Both crabs howled painfully as they were pummeled with ink in their most vulnerable spots. Even retracting their eyestalks wasn't enough to help them. It seemed that the inklings finally had the upper hand.

Suddenly there was a bright flash and a puff of smoke on the back of the blue crab. The agents fell off and landed roughly on the ground. Only Callie and Marie managed safe landings, Agents 3, 4, and 8 landed limply. Their bodies twitched but otherwise, they weren't moving.

"What was that?" Kalisha exclaimed!

"It looked like an electrical flash," Aishi said. "I saw one once when I was in the Work Brigades."

"But how would an electrical flash happen there?" Tephilla asked. "Crabs can't generate electricity!"

There was no time to speculate, as the shock of the event interrupted the attack long enough for both crabs to recover, the blue finally freeing the red from its entanglement. They then both turned menacingly towards the agents that had been giving them so much trouble.

Callie jumped out of the way as Three vomited on the ground in front of her and then twitched again. Her eyes were wide, as if in shock, but her body would only occasionally twitch, as if unwilling to obey her brain's commands.

"Four, get up, you have to move!" Marie cried as she tried to shake Four into some kind of action. She looked over at Eight who had managed to get one of her arms moving, slowly recovering from whatever had hit them. But she wouldn't recover in time.

Callie turned as the two giant crabs started to move towards them, intent on finishing them off, on killing her family, her precious family.

Her instincts told her to take the girls and run, but then, what about the rest? If they left the agents somewhere, they might get ambushed, and right now they were as vulnerable as hatchlings, unable to even cry.

The heavy thuds of the large crabs drew closer, their hissing louder and more anticipatory. Callie stared at them, her mind blanking. She could think of nothing else but protecting her family, and the others under her charge. These crabs were trying to kill them, to kill her. She couldn't allow that, she couldn't! After everything she'd been through, everything they'd tried to do to achieve peace and free the Octraians, she was not going to fall there.

The beast, long dormant, awakened for the first time. It broke free from it's feeble bindings, stretched it's tendrils throughout Callie's being, and roared.

Callie's unearthly howl cut through the cacophony of battle like a knife through fresh cheese. Marie watched with a mix of surprise and horror as Callie's mantle turned volcanic, her eyes glowing orbs of golden fury. For the first time, Callie's beast had awakened.

They had long suspected that Callie also had a beast within her, but no real proof one way or another, until now.

Marie's own beast was fighting against her mental bindings, bindings which yun'brennen was weakening with every passing second as the situation deteriorated, and death and panic occurred around her. She couldn't lose control, not again. She couldn't risk hurting her loved ones again, she couldn't!

She felt something grab her ankle, and she looked down to see Four feebly grasping her, coughing weakly. Everything else seemed to vanish from Marie's consciousness. Four's desperate grasp, unable to do anything but cling to her for help as the horrible monsters approached, was more than she could resist.

The flames of yun'brennen flared up into a raging firestorm, incinerating the beast's last restraints, and letting it truly free, for the first time since she was eight years-old. These monstrosities would learn what happens when one crosses an apex predator!

Avrika's eyes went wide as Callie and Marie's mantles both turned to something akin to molten steel, Marie's even glowed brightly. The crabs started their attack, only to be flummoxed as both inklings let out a terrifying, unearthly roar that echoed through the buildings behind them and out over the bay and harbour.

All of the fighting stopped as both sides stared, wondering what just happened. And then, Callie and Marie attacked.

The giant crabs didn't know what hit them. They moved with such speed and intensity that Avrika could barely believe it. They slammed their foes in the chest so hard that it actually knocked them back and nearly bowled them over.

Marie went after one of the standing legs of the blue crab, hurtling herself at it and hitting the knee joint with a strong kick that broke it, causing it to kink and snap under the crab's weight.

Callie, meanwhile, grabbed one of the giant crab's legs that tried to stomp on her and simply wrenched it off with the combined strength of her arms and tentacles.

Avrika and everyone else could only watch, dumbfounded, as the two girls single handedly began tearing two giant super crabs apart, piece by agonizing piece.

Mologh couldn't believe what he was seeing, refused to believe it. This was a nightmare, this all had to be some kind of nightmare, as he was watching Gung and Bungo, the product of decades of experimentation and research; his pride and joys; his own two sons, were gradually ripped apart by a pair of inkling… demons.

That was the only word that could describe them. They'd survived a direct hit from his eel cannon and they moved like vicious animals, slowly devouring their prey bit by bit until they could no longer resist, and then go for the kill. It was coming, he could see it. They would kill them, the greatest weapons crab kind had ever produced, and then he would be next. He had no intention of becoming an inkling snack, a regular death would be preferable to that.

Originally, he planned on dying right alongside his comrades if it came to it, but now he had a new mission. Somehow, he had to get news of this development to the consortiums. He had to tell them that the Squid Sisters were monster inklings of some kind!

He ran to the second floor office of the warehouse – his office. If he could just get one call through, then maybe something could be salvaged from all this.

He hastily dialed the number and held the phone tightly praying for someone to answer. "Pick up, pick up, pick u–." He never saw the axe blade come down between his eyestalks.

"Three, Three!"

Three groaned and managed to pick herself up, her limbs finally responding to commands, but every muscle felt hot and raw, and her body kept twitching involuntarily.

"I'm okay," she insisted. "I'm okay."

"You're not okay! You were almost in the middle of whatever that flash was."

"I'll live. We'll worry about it after the fight's over."

"Looks like the fight pretty much is over." Four groand as she was helped up by Kina and Vella. She pointed with one of the stubby tentacles in the direction of the giant crabs, both of them had stopped moving several moments ago, freshly dead and being hurriedly devouried bit by bit by everyone's favourite idol duo.

"What was that?" Eight asked, a little shaken. "What happened to them?"

"Not entirely sure what it is," Three admitted. "But I think it's what happened to Marie when she was a kid."

Four's eyes widened. "You mean when she almost killed…"

"Yes. At least, I'm pretty sure it is. I guess yun'brenen triggered it in Callie too. Whatever it is, it's supposed to be related to the reason their eyes are different from everyone else's."

Three hissed in pain and clutched her left arm.

"Oh no! Is it broken?" Eight knelt next to her and began checking her arm.

"It's fine," Three said through barely open eyes. "It just hurts. I don't think it's broken."

Eight carefully examined the arm, Three wincing in pain whenever she touched it.

"No, not broken, but pretty close. You should have one of the medics make a splint for you anyway."

"Later. They have more wounded people to look at first." She forced herself to her feet, ignoring the pain and twitches.

"Look, they've stopped fighting at the front." Four gestured to the lines of inklings and octolings wandering amongst the scores of broken and ink-covered crab bodies, periodically poking them to ensure they were dead.

"Eight," Three said softly, "Hachiko, I know you're worried, but I have a job to do. Please let me do it. I promise I won't push myself."

"I don't believe you." Eight said bluntly, but she sighed and released her. "Alright, what do you need me to do?"

"Find a medic to check on the hostages. If we can, let's transport them aboard the ship. They might be safer there."

"Alright."

Eight went off to find a medic while Three and Four headed to the warehouse.

"Are you okay?"

Four managed a weak smile and flashed green. "Yeah, I'll be okay. I must have landed on my head, haha."

Three couldn't help but smile a tiny bit herself. It was a good sign if Four could joke, even as they walked among scores of dead crabs. What a mess.

Part of Three felt regret for this. They had wiped out the entire crab gang, or whatever this group had actually been. It seemed hypocritical, in a way, to have killed literally hundreds of crabs as a result of the death of an octoling and an inkling, but she had killed many more octolings who had never killed an inkling in their life.

"This was a war," she said softly as she stepped over a pile of shattered crab legs.

"Yeah," Four murmured. "It definitely felt like one. I guess we just hit them first."

"We took the initiative. Imagine how many lives we saved before they could hit us first."

"I don't think I want to right now."

Ahead, standing just outside the warehouse, was Hani and the rest of Delta. They snapped to attention as they approached.

"Ma'am, we have secured the warehouse. We believe we found the leader of this group inside. We had to kill him to stop him from calling for help, but we did get the number he dialed." She started to take something out of her pocket but Three made a holding gesture with her good arm.

"Save that for later. Did you find anything interesting?"

"Yes, Ma'am. We've taken a lot of images but we can't search much more without disturbing the evidence, as per our initial orders. However, it seems that at least some were burned."

"Figures. Fine then, we have to leave things for Security to find untouched. Is there anything you found that the Ambassador would be interested in?"

Hani's expression turned grave. "Yes, Ma'am. Several things, in fact."

Three frowned and then turned to Vella. "Go bring the ambassador here." Vella nodded and hurried off.

"Four, once she gets here, I'll ask her to put you in charge of Alpha Company. It's late and we need to get them to the pick-up point for the buses on time. Vella should be able to help you too. Hani, once she gets here, you'll have to guide her. Let's all be quick. We need most of us gone by the time Security arrives."

"Question," Four raised a hand. "What about Callie and Marie? Are they going to be okay? Plus, the Ambassador still has one of our scouts in her belly."

Three looked over at the slowly diminishing giant crab carcasses and pulsed blue. "I'll call an ambulance."