Author's Note: So here are how the Agents are:
*Agent 3 is as advertised in Octo Expansion, female, and an introvert. I kinda agree on the general consensus the fanbase has on 3. Excellent combat skills, less than par socializing skills.
*Agent 4 is the boy from the Splatoon 2 promos. Yes, that neatly styled guy, the one on the "undercut" hairstyle as some of the fanbase call it, is my Agent 4. And yeah, I also refer to the one dueling the girl on the Dualies in the cover.
Without further adieu, enjoy.
The combatants scrambled for position across the ruined ground of Cuttlefish Cabin. Evan has the Jet Squelcher's range to outmatch both the Blaster user & the Octo Shot user. One of the Elites changed her weapon to a Octarian version of the Heavy Splatling, which severely worsened their already dim odds.
Jesse, not needing to be told twice, promptly switched colors to orange, her Hero Shot 1 reacting to the color change. Orange streaks valiantly clashed with the Octarian purple that was dominating the Cabin. Jesse swiftly rolled out of the way of an Octocommander's line of fire, duly splatting it when the gunner was exhausted.
Evan was clearing up the rest of the Octocopters with the tremendous range the Jet Squelcher gave. The Elite on the Splatling trained her eyes on the male Agent, narrowly dodging the ink rain trained at him. The Elite recognized him, and tried a different approach.
"I like a strong squid.", she said to the male Agent, attempting to flirt with Evan. "You could be my right hand squid in the Army you know, make so many strong cephalopod kids...", she trailed off, sweet deadliness lacing her voice.
"How about you follow Agent 5 first?", he said back at her, spraying a stream from his Jet Squelcher, the Elite submerging to dodge and at the same time, refill her ink.
"Come now, Evan Current.", she lovingly said to Evan, garnering a startled response from him. "Yes, Agent 4, I know your name.", she continued to flirt with the Agent, hoping to use the natural male instinct against him. But Marie & Callie taught him so much about this kind of tactic, with some...unconventional lessons to boot.
"Heh, I've been trained to detect that kind of tactics, Elite.", he said confidently to her, shooting another clip from his Squelcher, squidding away to refund the spent ink. An orange Splat Bomb scared off the Elite, putting a halt temporarily to her scheme.
"Hmp, OctoTHOT.", Jesse said, having heard enough to tell where the flirtatious Elite wanted to go with it.
"Can't blame them, I mean, guys are in short supply.", Evan quipped simply. He continued to gun down the flying Octarian mooks, which already have dwindled in number, leaving a couple of Deluxes and a few more ordinary ones.
"Rrrrgh! Damn squidiot!", said the Elite to Jesse, frustrated, battling her instead. The Splatling whizzed menacingly, aiming for the veteran agent. But Agent 3 was more than a match for the Elite, skillfully rolling and swimming away from the deadly torrents. Agent 4 was finishing up the last of the Octocopters, when deadly drops of purple whizzed past his body, dodging in the nick of time to avoid damages. The Elite then seemingly winked at Evan before she exploded in orange ink.
"See you round, squid boy!", she flirtily called out, before exploding in a burst of orange. Evan heaved a sigh of relief, despite the still slower ink recovery.
"Thanks, Three.", he said to Jesse. "One more minute and I may have fell for that woman's charms.", he sighed "Maybe.", he sarcastically added.
"I swear, they're damn horny these days.", Jesse said to Evan.
"Because of you squidiots!", yelled Maia, lobbing a Blaster shot at Evan, grazing his face, stinging his face.
"Whoa there, ma'am!" he said to the Octoling, firing his Jet Squelcher at the offender. "We ain't do squit for you guys to be like that, you know?", he retorted.
"You...you and your damn wasteful festivals! You idiots don't even know about what the origin of your Turf Wars are!", she yelled angrily, popping Blaster shots at both Agents.
"That's what Octavio said.", he replied sarcastically, popping some shots from the spare Jet Squelcher he was using. "Of course you wouldn't listen, you have those damn shades on!", he retorted once more with a small barrage from his weapon.
"Octavio knows! He is our leader!", she retorted fiercely, firing at Evan. Jesse was busy engaging another Elite on the Octo Charger, with assist from a subordinate on the Octo Shot. The mooks were significant whittled down, but they still continued to distract the valiant Agents. Jesse's mantle flared to signify she had her special ready, after picking up a peculiar can.
"Say goodnight.", Jesse said coldly, as she whipped out an olden Special: the Inkzooka. Cyclones of Orange ink whizzed menacingly past the troops, defeating more of the Octocopters, and making short work of the Elite on the Octo Charger. Maia, seeing that she had little chance for success, called a retreat.
"All remaining forces, retreat to the saucers! Abort mission! Abort mission!", she blared into her comm piece, as she swam away from the Agents, who were on the attack. The Octolings jumped back to their starting saucer, and soon, they joined the King Manta in departure.
(Meanwhile, at the King Manta)
A variety of sea creatures were to be seen manning the battle stations in the King Manta: jellyfish of some varieties, prawns, with some Sanitized Octolings serving as the security, patrolling the halls in organized splatoons. Most wielded Octo Shots, though few carried Sloshers, Blasters, and Octobrushes.
The commander was overseeing all operations on the warship. She lorded over an array of personnel, monitoring this & that over her pedestal at the capital warship. A jellyfish, which were different from Inkopolis jellies, would report to her everytime about the ship. She wore a trenchcoat over her Neo Octoling Armor, which was matched with some parts from the Kamabo Null Armor, preferably the gloves, skirt and boots., which told everyone her station of commanding the flagship. Her cyan eyes are devoid of life, which was natural of a Sanitized Octoling. And an Elite at that, as evidenced by the darker tentacles and kelp. She then turned face two really battered Octolings, both sporting ink bruises, the sign they were recently in battle.
"What. Happened. Out there?" she said tersely to the battered Octolings.
"Agent 3 & 4 were on the scene, Commander.", reported the Octoling on the Octo Shot.
"Our forces were pushed back & whittled down by the entire New Squidbeak Splatoon. All the Agents engaged us, including One & Two.", Maia narrated, her Blaster in one hand.
"Eight was also there. Along with the defector Marina Ida, and her friend, Pearl Dorry." reported the on the Octo Shot, menace in her eyes.
"Hm, they had everyone there huh?", said the Sanitized Elite. "I would have splatted you both if we did not get your leader back. But we did.", she stated, her sanitization suppressing any emotion she would have, but her lifeless eyes look into the two's souls. "No matter, the mission is still a success.", she said. "Set coordinates to the Citadel, we have an appointment with the masters.", she ordered the jellies on the navigation panel. "At least our guest has.", she stated.
The ship lurched over the stone octopus, and far away. They went through vast expanses of oceans, the engines running at full capacity. After a few hours, they sighted an island unlike any other: it was filled with military apparatus, and had the infrastructure for a ship that size.
"Begin the descent!", commanded the Sanitized officer. "You two are dismissed, regroup with your troops.", she said to the two Octolings, who promptly walked away. "Prepare our guest.", she commanded a group of Sanitized Octolings. She went with them to the cargo bay, where a very suspicious Octavio was waiting.
The Octarian leader was appalled at what he was witnessing. Those looked like his Octoling soldiers, but they are nothing like his own. Like, seriously, what the heck is the deal? He had red Octolings, maroon for Elite, but never he had seen the green skinned, blue & green tentacled Octolings. Fear, disgust, & a rare amount of worry creased over his face, behind his shades.
"What the hell hath my army become?", he thought to himself, as the soldiers began cracking the glass globe. "And where exactly is here?", he tried to ask the sanitized soldiers, but to no avail. "Well, at least they sprung me from those scum.", he thought to himself, compressing himself to avoid the glass shards. He then saw Maia and the other one on the Octo Shot, which were his subordinates in Octo Valley.
"Is that?-", said the Octo Shot girl.
"Your Spicy Majesty!?", said Maia, her Blaster clattering to the floor in utter shock.
"Maia Stormfront? Edith Low-Pressure?", said the dazed Octarian general. "Quickly, get me out of this, we can discuss later!", ordered the leader, relieved that he somehow still had some semblance of an army to return to.
"With haste, Majesty!", both said, helping their sanitized counterparts. They began hurling bombs at the globe, covering it in ink, helping Octavio slither out of the globe, turning to face his unmutated subjects.
"Tell me Lieutenant, are there any more of us, or it's just us three?", said the DJ to Maia.
"They rounded up all our forces in an effort to free you, your Spicy Majesty.", reported the lieutenant.
"Where exactly are we? I am damn sure this ain't Octo Valley or Octo Canyon. Or squit, ain't anything at all!", said the Octarian leader, surveying the surroundings.
"They called it the Citadel.", chimed in Edith. "An island fortress like no other."
"Hmmm. I wonder, what this place has in store for me?", Octavio wondered aloud.
Suddenly, the commander came into the scene, Octavio already free of the globe, conversing with his subjects.
"I hate to interrupt, but the Council are waiting.", she barked at the regular Octarians. "Escort him to the council.", she ordered her sanitized soldiers. "You can follow.", she beckoned to the two regular Octolings. "Bring your un-sanitized friends if you must.", she said to the two Octolings. Both were busy digesting the unusual appearance to even reply.
All the Octolings formed two lines at either side of Octavio, with his subordinates close by. The Sanitized official marching forward, with all following suit, departing the ship. Two pairs of Sanitized were at the front and back of the entourage, guarding against any flank. Pair 1 had Dualies, Pair 3 & 2 had Octo Shots, and the last pair had Sloshers.
The Citadel lived up to its name: it was a mighty base that had all weapons known to cephalo-kind. Sanitized guards were patrolling every corridor, Octosnipers at strategic points, the works. There were Ink Cannons even on some parts of the base, along with some repurposed tech Octavio knew was human. They marched through an elaborate gate, being greeted & saluted by the jellyfish manning the gate, and the Sanitized guards. A match was going on, putting two teams of Sanitized octolings to the test against each other. The Octarian leader was mildly impressed.
"Your military is really disciplined.", commented Octavio to the Sanitized officer.
"Yes DJ Octavio, they are the best of their kind.", she said. "All fight, none of the emotions. The best type of soldier indeed.", she stated simply, as they kept on walking past the scrimmage match, which was spectated by jellies & prawns, taking bets.
"Just, what are you?", he asked the official.
"We are the Sanitized.", she faced the formerly imprisoned Octarian leader. "In the wake of your unfortunate defeat at the hands of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, some of your ranks looked for power somewhere else." she narrated. "A facility called Kamabo Co. offered a hand and helped us perfect ourselves as soldiers.", she continued marching on, approaching an escalator.
"Those Inkopolis squit!", Octavio snarled. "Those idiots continue to take everything from me! Octo Canyon! Octo Valley!", he ranted, Maia & Edith scowling in agreement. Both girls had seen Agent 4's destruction in the Canyon, having encountered and being splatted many times over. The entourage descended another flight of escalators, taking them lower.
"Recently, our facility was rocked by the Splatoon again, but with some...old friends you may recognize.", she narrated, continuing on.
"About this...Council.", said Octavio, opting to change the subject.
"They are an enigma, your Majesty.", said the official. "After the downfall of the Kamabo facilities, they pulled us all out to focus on a campaign that their AI failed to do: eliminate Inkopolis.", as she descended the final escalator, arriving on a very busy floor, where jellies and Sanitized were experimenting with weapons. Finally, they arrived at an automated steel double door, which had biometric security, aside from Elite Sanitized guards patrolling it. All four saluted the commander.
"The Council will see you now, DJ Octavio.", as she input her fingerprints and tentacle print onto the machine, opening the door. The entourage marched on as they entered the glowing but shadowed room, much more than the previous floors. Five hologram figures glitched to life at the sight of them, perched atop a pedestal, which had cyan liquid inside, most likely some genetic experiment going on. The commander did a salute to the shadowed figures, which slightly unnerved the Octarian leader.
The holograms were busts of what seemed to be...humans. And they looked like they held power at some point in time. Even only in busts, Octavio can tell these are figures not to be trifled with. Maia & Edith took their positions closest to Octavio while everyone else dispersed to both sides, accompanying the Elite Guards, which were wielding prototype weapons that were a mix of the Jet Squelcher and the Splatterscope, which looked like neither, having a complete remodel.
"Less than par, Commander Stormsurge. We shall discuss matters later. We have our guest.", one such figure at the center said to the commander, beckoning to DJ Octavio. The security then assumed positions along with the Elite guards. A circular table, rather large, emerged out of the floor, with seats enough for 7. At the center was an insignia of a fist punching downwards, with rays like sunlight extending to its left and right, painted red.
"DJ Octavio. Master musician, leader of the Octarian nation.", admonished another of the shadow figures, having a clean-cut hairstyle, to the left of the earlier figure.
"Yes, that would be me.", he replied, turning into humanoid form to show strength. He was still wearing what he has when he still had Callie under his thumb: an purple shirt that had the Octarian logo embellished at the front, which he matched with jeggings that he personally commissioned.
"Ah, you rarely do that, yes?", said another shadow figure, wearing what seemed to be a general's cap.
"Yes, when I don't have my great weapons at my beck and call.", Octavio answered defensively. "Who are you people? This definitely doesn't look anything like my nation at all.", he stated rather petulantly, scowling.
"Ah yes. We are the Council.", the shadow figure in the center revealed to his guest. "We lead an organization called The Red Fist Revolution, an organization aiming to take control of this world from the tyrannical denizens that inhabit it", he narrated shortly.
"We have a chronicle of what happened in the Valley & Canyon.", informed the shadow figure to the near right, a female with slicked back blonde hair, or that's what it looked like to Octavio "When our Kamabo facilities failed, we gathered our...enhanced subjects and built this base.", she stated.
"This was a former human military base during the Fifth World War. We have converted it's facilities to produce weapons fit for the task, and could be yours too.", the center shadow figure offered.
"What's the catch?", said Octavio sceptically.
"Well, why, your hated enemies, the Inklings!", said the shadow figure to the far left. "We have knowledge that your defeat was by the hands of those mutants.", he stated. "You see, we sprung you because we feel we both have a common goal!", he said joyfully.
"Tartar was at the cusp of doing it, but ultimately failed, thanks to these people.", he remarked sourly, as he brought up via hologram pictures of familiar people: Marina Ida on the left, and Craig Cuttlefish some ways below a picture of another Octoling unlike any of his. And there was a picture of a rather short Inkling dealing the final blow to NILS via Killer Wail. Octavio scowled at the sight of the pictures, evoking anger from the Octarian leader.
"So that was what my former engineer does after falling to the Calamari Inkantation.", he tersely spoke, gritting his beak in anger. Maia also scowled upon the center picture riding the rails inking the statue: Shannon Triheart. That codforsaken weakling. "And of course that squidiot Craig had to be involved! Of all that is unholy!", he growled.
"What say you then, DJ Octavio? We can help you bring all your Great Weapons back, and even improve upon it. To your specifications of course.", the figure sporting the beard on the far right proposed. "In return, I want the commitment of the whole Octarian Nation to this cause.", he added.
"If this involves putting an end to Inkopolis and finally seeing light for my people, I'll be willing to give it all!", he growled, excited at the prospect. "Hmh, Craig and his little Splatoon will never know what hit them.", he smirked.
"We can give you new facilities for you and your soldiers, if you'd please.", said the figure with the general cap.
"I just want to go home and get this show ongoing.", said Octavio. "Just help me secure either Octo Valley & Octo Canyon. Flush the cod-damned Splatoon from there!", he yelled in frustration.
"Then this deal is pretty much half done.", the leader stated. "We already struck down the Valley extracting you.", he stated.
"We believe that you're an important asset to this campaign. Your soldiers may not be like ours, but as they said: strength in numbers.", the female figure said, earning a scowl from the purple Octarians.
"My army is loyal to me, and anyone who isn't gets the boot.", Octavio snarled. "Permanently.", he intoned forcefully. "My divisions work around the clock to perfect the tune to beatdown on those fools.", boasted Octavio.
"Then this alliance will sure be fruitful.", said the bearded figure.
"So then, DJ Octavio.", admonished the center figure, "Will it be a deal, friend?"
"Anything to wipe these fools clean off like spinning my turntable is always a deal.", Octavio answered, evil determination in his eyes.
"Welcome then, to the Revolution.", said the leader.
"You may inspect our facilities at your leisure, your Spicy Majesty.", said the female figure. The two Octolings and Octavio stood up. The Sanitized offered to accompany them, but Octavio insisted on only a few, dismissing the rest he didn't chose.
"Ha ha ha! You scum will be getting what's coming!" he barked aloud. "Now no one can stop the spicy tune I am about to lay down!", as he laughed evilly, as he morphed back to an octopus, floating out of the Council Chambers.
*After-Chapter Bits:
The villain has revealed themselves. But what really is the catch for the Octarian leader? And how will the NSS react to the attack and the hijacking of their prisoner. Find out.
Search Inkopolis: Dawn of Unity on Imgur for illustrations of my OCs and objects in this story, like the King Manta, Callie's Hero Roller, my OC/avatar Joshua Catfish, and another of my OCs Commander Catalina Stormsurge.
Apparently, links don't work at all...
a/oWk3n83