Riding the air current as impressive speed, Nathan ascended upwards. The air current mechanism was designed to last to whole way up without dieing down, and Nathan could see that it did just as it was designed to do. Nathan realized that the passageway was very much like a giant air vent, and figured that the Octarians used the gliders to ride the vent upwards in the event that they didn't have an aircraft.

Nathan spotted the words "Ultra Vent" printed on signs throughout on his way up, and realized that there were also platforms attached to the walls, which lead to other areas, likely other domes. Nathan ignored these however, and continued towards the top.

He realized that the Octarians used this vent to get to certain location quickly, and figured that they may even have more. Nathan was impressed by the Ultra Vent, but was truly surprised by how it allowed him to fly upwards. He had never seen anything like it before.

"I know squids aren't supposed to fly," Nathan thought to himself, "but I think I'm the first one who can!" Just after he finished saying this, he noticed medium-sized debris falling from above. "Whoa!" Nathan had to maneuver his way past the debris in order to ensure a safe passage. It came around seemingly at random, and some caught him by surprise. He had to be very quick in order to move out of the way for some of them. "What in the name of-?!"

As Nathan got closer to the top, he noticed the amount of debris decreased, but the debris got bigger. Some where even on fire. Did some Octarians notice him and were throwing stuff down to slow him down? Or was the vent simply falling apart for some reason?

Regardless, Nathan dodged the falling debris as much as he could. The combination of flying upwards at high speeds and dodging both wooden beams and debris made for a stressful flight. Nathan eventually got hit by a small but hard piece of debris, likely rock. Noticing a platform on the wall, he decided to see if it caused any damage. He retracted his wings, thus no longer affected by the air current. He slowed down and stopped right above the platform and landed on it safely.

"Damn rocks..." Removing the top of his suit, he realized that the rock had hit him right on his right shoulder, and there was a large bruise. His shoulder hurt, but Nathan could bear it. "Glad I was wearing that suit...and this undershirt." Nathan sighed and put the uniform shirt back on. His then noticed the platform was attached to a path around the edge of the vent. Nathan decided to follow it.

Going upwards, the path lead to a doorway that lead into an unknown location. Because the path floor was a grate, Nathan had to be careful not to turn into a squid. Reaching the doorway, he looked through it's tiny window to see two Octolings, Edith and Abby, in semi-large small room. He then placed his ear by the door and listened.

"Heh heh, she was weak!" said Edith, "Never stood a chance."

"Uh...yeah, she didn't," said Abigail.

"Hey, what's up with ya? You ain't empathy or pity for the Inklings, are ya?"

"Wh-What? N-No! Of...course not..."

"Good. We need them for...you know what."

"Edith, are you sure Nero hasn't gone insane?"

"Well I...wait what?"

"He's been...more aggressive lately, ever since we started taking Inklings."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well...you know what happens when he gets angry."

"You've been acting weird lately, Abigail. Ever since we learned about the Great Turf War and how the sea levels caused it, you've been more...I don't know the word...quiet."

"...I just think...don't ya think...uhh..."

"Oh I see. You think that our loss was not meant to be!

"Uh...well...actually-"

"That's my sis!" said Edith as he she gave Abby a noogie.

"Hey, hey! Stop that!" Abigail broke free of Edith's grasp. "Dammit, Edith, you know I hate that!"

"Ha ha! Sorry! Now c'mon! Let's get back to camp."

"I'll meet you there. I'm gonna work on this weapon here."

"Okay, see ya!" Edith was about the open the door and leave. Nathan silently panicked, but then quickly went into squid form, going through the grate. He then quickly grabbed the grate once he was below it. He knew it wasn't the best way to hide, as if Edith looked down or step on his fingers, he would be discovered. But it was pretty much his only option.

When Edith opened the door, Nathan held his breath. Thankfully, Edith didn't look down or step on his fingers, she simply equipped her Octoglider and flew upwards. Nathan sighed in relief as he climbed back up onto the platform, and looked through the window again to see Abby working on a new weapon.

"Just place that here...and put this piece in here..." she said to herself, "And...there! Finished!" She held what appeared to be a platinum Aerospray weapon. "The Aerospray XG...finally ready!" She then looked at the blueprints of another weapon, one much larger and much more powerful. "Now what am I gonna do about this..."

Nathan was very confused. Why was that Octoling acting like that? Why was she looking at blueprints of such a massive-looking weapon but simply wondering about it? Rather then try to contribute to it or even build it herself? But then another question came to mind: What were they using the captured Inklings for? Nathan did not focus on these questions. Returning to what he had been doing prior, he extended his glider and flew upwards once again.

This time, the amount of debris seemed to increase. Most of them were giant rocks now, and sometimes Nathan spotted entire chunks of steel raining down. "Where the hell is all this debris coming from?!" Nathan soon found the answer when he saw the walls of the higher portion of the Ultra Vent to be falling apart or completely removed. Behind the steel walls were rocks and soil, and some of the rock fell from areas where the walls were removed.

Once Nathan got past the areas of the wall that were damaged or destroyed, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! The debris should stop now..." Surely enough. it did. Nathan saw light, and realized he was close to the end of the Ultra Vent. He rushed out of the vent and found himself in a massive building above ground. It was empty, so no Octarians noticed him.

Nathan gliding through the air for a while and safely landed on the floor. He looked around to see that the building seemed to be a parking lot for vehicles, including the aircraft that belonged to Edith and Abigail. He walked up to the aircraft and examined it. It looked like a fighter jet, able to hold two people, and it was rather small for its type. It was colored dark metallic gray, almost black. Two Splatling guns were placed by the wings, but not on them. Nathan noticed the guns had tubes attached to their ink tanks, which lead into the aircraft.

"Nathan to HQ, do you read?" he said, contacting HQ.

"We hear ya, Nathan!" answered Agent 1.

"How are you holding up?" asked Smith, "Have you finished your ascent up the vent?"

"Yeah," said Nathan, "Wait a minute...Diana! How's Diana?"

"She's recovering nicely. She's resting right now on the medical room. She'll be fine...which is actually very surprising!"

"Oh phew...I was worried about her!"

"Nothing to worry about, sport! Anyway, where are you?"

"The Ultra Vent lead to here. It's like a...warehouse or parking lot or something. There's a bunch of vehicles in here."

"Like what?"

"I see some...trucks, aircraft, and a few boats even. I'm examining an aircraft right now."

"Alright, I'll leave you to it, then!"

"Got it. Oh, and uh...tell Diana I said 'hi', okay?"

"I will."

"Thanks, Smith." Nathan ended the call. He climbed on top of the aircraft he was examining. He realized the tubes of the guns were connected to something else inside the aircraft. Noticing what looked like a large hatch door. He tried to open it, but to no avail. He looked around, but saw no clues. Forgetting about the aircraft, he headed for a doorway and exited the building to explore whatever was outside.