Nathan and Diana landed in one of the Octarian's underground kettles, and were surprised at the surroundings. Backdrops of the sky were pasted on the walls of the dome, and they were so realistic that Nathan first thought it was actually the sky. There was an enormous light bulb the size of a 5-floor apartment building on the dome's ceiling that kept the place lit up, representing the sun. There was no grass, no plant life, and no soil. Just rock and metal.

"Wow..." said Diana, "This is actually kinda impressive...for a bunch of octopi."

"Yeah," said Nathan.

"Agents 4 and 5? Do you read me?" said Cuttlefish over the headset of the Hero Suits.

"Loud and clear."

"Good! Then the headsets are working properly! Okay, listen! Your goal is to find out why those Inklings have gone missing. My granddaughters are telling me that more have disappeared since you were last in the city, so hurry up!"

"Gotcha, Captain!" said Diana.

"Great! Cuttlefish out!"

"Okay," said Nathan, "I don't know what they're gonna throw at us, but I bet it'll involve Octolings sooner or later. Make sure you gun isn't jammed or anything. Because if it is we might be in some trouble."

"I checked on the way down here," said Diana.

"That's good. Now let's move." Nathan and Diana progressed forward.

"Octarians ahead!" said Cuttlefish, "Be careful! Get behind a wall if you're hurtin', got it?"

"Alright." said Nathan as he and Diana stationed themselves behind a wall to load their weapons. "They're just three basic Octotroopers, they shouldn't be much work to take out."

"Hopefully they're easier than those Octolings we fought," said Diana.

"Tell me about it." The two then emerged from behind the wall and opened fire, dispatching the alarmed Octarians.

"Nice job, buckos!" said Cuttlefish.

"Told you, Diana," said Nathan, "Easy."

"Yeah, now lets clean up this octo ink," Diana replied.

"Right. Trying to walk in that stuff is useless." Nathan and Diana converted their ink color to green in order to place an ink trail and decided to remain that way for the remainder of the mission. Using a Launchpad to get to the next area, they took out the Octotroopers guarding the area and examined it once they were all defeated. They found a large, broken tank that looked at if it had held a captive. Inside was yellow ink.

"Oh my-" said Diana, "Now we KNOW they're responsible!"

"What is it?" said Smith over the headset, "What did you find?"

"It appears to be a broken giant container," said Nathan.

"I see it."

"Huh?"

"Your headsets also have a camera on 'em. So that way we can see what's going on. It can even be turned on and off, which is a feature I don't really agree with."

"I see. Anyway, I think it had an Inkling inside, there's yellow ink all over the inside."

"I knew it!" said Cuttlefish, "I fish-flippin' knew it! They're taking Inklings alright! Look around more and see what you can find."

"Understood," said Nathan, "We gotta hurry. This early in the mission and we're already discovering what's going on. But now comes the question: Why? Why are they taking Inklings? There has to be a reason to all this. They wouldn't just take random Inklings for no reason."

"Could it be a warning?" Diana suggested.

"I don't think so..." Nathan said as he pointed to a red stain on the glass of the tank, some of the red mixed with the yellow. Diana gasped.

"Is that-?!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty damn sure it is. We gotta move." Nathan continued the path.

"...But...I thought they were never that brutal..." Diana whispered to herself.

"Diana!"

"Oh!" She caught up with Nathan and followed him up the path. She was disturbed by the red stain despite it being rather small, but got over it quickly once it was out of her sights. It was a reminder of something that happened in her own past, an event she could never forget, but she definitely wanted to forget it.

Eventually, after dealing with more Octotroopers and some Octocopters, the two made it to another launchpad and continued onward. When they got to the next area, they realized that it was completely empty. It was just a large platform with nothing on it except themselves.

"What?" said Diana, "This has to be some kind of trap..."

"I was thinking the same thing. Keep your guard up," said Nathan. They waited for at least a minute, and nothing happened. They began to wonder why. They ventured the area, and that's when multiple Octotroopers and Octocopters appeared. "Of course..."

The two opened fire at the Octarians, battling them with all they got. Nathan sometimes got physical and ended up kicking one in the face very hard and punching another one. Diana knew Nathan took this kind of stuff very seriously, especially since it was Octarians.

"It seems they've gotten more...brutal, hasn't it?" asked Diana.

"Yeah," Nathan said, "Do you think their leader is to blame? You think that after one defeat he'd get really angry, maybe even get driven to the brink of insanity?"

"Perhaps."

"But anyway, keep fighting! Don't wanna lose ya!"

"...Right!" The two continued to splat the Octarian forces, one by one. Both had a few close calls, but they managed to stay alive throughout the attack. When it was done, the two decided to clean up the magenta ink with their green ink.

"Alright!" said Nathan, "We did it!"

"Think again, Inkling!" yelled a voice. Suddenly, an enormous flying large ship-like vessel, equipped with large thrusters to keep it airborne, flew into the air and above the two agents.

"What the-?!" said Nathan.

"What the hell is THAT?!" yelled Diana. It was the Octarian Airship, and it was as big as an entire fortress. It pulled up by the edge of the platform the two were standing on, showing an Octoling commander.

"This war has only just begun," the commander said. He was about 19 years old and had superior height.

"Who are you?!" asked Diana.

"I am the Octarian Army Commander and the king's top adviser, Nero. What do you think of my ship? Worked on it for three years. We would have won two years ago if I could've finished it in that time. But you, boy, you've been most interesting. You and your friend even took out my three pals. I should've known that they wouldn't have stood a chance against you, though."

"We know what you're up to, Nero," said Nathan, "You Octarians are responsible for the Inkling disappearances! I wanna know why."

"..."

"Well, spit it out!" yelled Diana.

"Ha ha ha...it is too early to reveal our plans to you. But I can tell you that your little hypothesis is in fact the conclusion. We have been stealing Inklings, but why? I am not allowed to say. The King would be very displeased, and very angry."

"I care little about the king!" Diana scalded, "What are you doing with those Inklings?!"

"My my, aren't we impatient. You'll find out soon enough, little girl. But I have to leave now, you see. Au revoir." The airship then flew away into a large opening in the dome into another, taking off and flying away.

"No! Urgh! Nathan, I wanna know what this is about!"

"I do too," said Nathan, "But he's not willing to cooperate. We'll find out soon. For now, let's head back to base, we need to tell Cuttlefish the news. Hopefully he's found more agents."

"Agents 4 and 5, do you read?" said Smith, "Cuttlefish wants you back at base now, he wants to introduce you two to Agents 1 and 2."

"Got it." Nathan and Diana headed to back to the kettle, exiting the dome and returning to base to inform Cuttlefish and Smith of the news.