Author's Note: Hey guys...sigh. Where do I begin explaining...server drama... A fight, sudden kicks, mostly undeserved and downright wrong, and just general shitstorm blowing up on my face, all affecting the progress of this story, this chapter in particular. I should probably stick to monthly releases. That would be all, now unto the story.
The Splatoon braced themselves for a fight, seeing the incoming attack batallion. Various types of Sanitized Octarian mooks zoomed in to intercept them: Octo-commanders, Octo-snipers, Octo-pods, hundreds of Octo troopers of various flavors, and most of all, Octolings, wielding almost every weapon imaginable in the roster.
"A warm welcome.", Jesse commented snidely, readying her Charger.
"They did show up.", Evan noted, Hero Shot in the ready.
"This is more than I ever encountered back in the Metro...", Shannon mused, Roller on the ready.
"Let's do this, Marie.", said Callie, a fierce look in her eyes.
"Alright Squidbeak. Let's show these lousy excuses of cephalopods how it is to actually live. Make them regret ever stepping foot in Inkopolis and messing with us.", Marie said, Charger at the ready. "Alright, Squidbeak...ATTACK! FOR THE HOTEL! FOR INKOPOLIS!", she yelled as a battle cry, the group rushing onwards to their positions, yelling in unison.
Jesse tossed up a Curling Bomb to clear the way for her perch, while Callie started up mopping the lowly Troopers. Evan was shooting down some Octo-copters, while Shannon was dealing with the first Octoling team, assisted by Marie. This team had a Blaster, a Slosher, and two Dualies among them. Shannon went for the Blaster user, while Marie was annoying the Slosher.
Evan switched to Autobombs, tossing it at a group of troopers to his side, diving down as the troopers exploded, leaving only one heavily damaged trooper, which Evan disposed in a single burst of his gun. He switched back to Splat Bomb and dealt with the Torpedoes. Callie came flying into Evan's view, no doubt assisting her lover in all but name.
"Nice swing, Cal!", he cheered, as the Torpedoes went bust.
"That was nothing, Four!", she cheerily quipped, kissing him on the cheek before continuing on with other targets.
"One, really?", Jesse groused, seeing everything, continuing to exterminate the Copters. Suddenly, a few fat helmeted mooks came into view, an all-too-familiar one...
"Bombers, watch out!", Marie said, targeting one.
"Agent 3, I am dropping a Special at your position!", Sheldon's voice cracked up.
"Would be much appreciated!", she replied. A drone carrying a can swooped by and dropped its load on Jesse's feet. She then glowered...and so her hair.
"Time to bring the thunder." she said, releasing the canned special: Tenta Missile. Immediately, strands of ink missiles seeked their targets, obliterating the lower types, including the Octoling Shannon was confronting. The group then mopped up the remaining mooks, the rushed forward to eliminate the blockade surrounding the hostages, which were huddled up now near the Bravo spawn point.
As usual, various mooks appeared once more from the framework, and two squads of Octolings dropped in to intercept them. Each squad had an Elite with them, and one squad had Octo-shots, while the other had Dualies. Already knowing of these tactics from all their previous missions, they focused attack on the lesser Sanitized, easily mopping them down, while keeping away the Octolings, which was managed by Jesse and Marie.
The group continued to deal with Sanitized fireteams, Evan's agility on full display against the Dualies, matching the squad roll-for-roll. Agent 3's sniping was up to point, managing to snipe the Elite on Octo-shot, exploding in a snap. Marie was laying support on the team, sniping to distract the enemy from the front-liners, Callie, who was dealing with the Shooters, and Shannon, who was dealing with the Dualies.
Evan managed to out-roll an enemy on Dualie, being tricked into rolling into his range, letting loose once she did so. He tossed a Splat Bomb right after dealing with her, to suppress the enemy team. Not too long after, Marie sniped another Dualie user after rolling away from the bomb Evan sent.
"Still the best.", Marie smirked, as she made the shot. She then moved on to her next target: the Dualie who was harassing Evan, but she didn't need to intervene, as Callie, emerging out of a sliver of purple, slammed hard into the unwary Octoling, releasing a ghost amidst an explosion of purple.
"Squitch please.", Callie grinned, as Evan finished the last of the Dualies, ending an intense battle with the Dualie fireteam.
Over at Jesse and Shannon's side of things, Jesse provided cover for Shannon, by shooting ink into walls, which confused the enemy, for worse when they met a sudden end courtesy of Shannon, which emerged out of the ink to splat the enemy with prejudice. The remaining two tried making a run for Jesse, but was no match for her sniping, and compounded with Shannon flicking behind, it was a hopeless case, as Jesse splatted the two with relative ease.
"You wrapped up yet there, Three?", Marie asked on the radio.
"Quite just.", came the reply of Jesse.
"Alright, clear whatever they fling at you and meet at the center point.", Marie instructed. "Two out, let's go Splatoon!", she said, slightly sprinting. As if on cue, squads of troopers came down to deal with them, but was easily put down by the squad, proving an inadequate response. Soon after, the five met up at the center of the place, as Marie instructed.
"This is proving to be more difficult than any mission in the Canyon.", Evan panted, changing to squid form.
"Weak-ass.", Jesse smirked.
"Well, you ain't the one on the front line.", he bit back sarcastically.
"Agents... Are you seeing that?", said Shannon, calling the attention of her comrades, as rumbling noises started. Soon, they saw Octarians carry a contraption, which immediately was recognized by Jesse...
"The Nozzle.", Jesse said in a serious note.
"I have not seen that weapon since I was still in the military...", mused Shannon. "And...this wasn't part of my trials in the Metro...", she said, with a hint of confusion.
"I trust you can deal with this, Splatoon?", Marie told the group, charger in the ready.
"Incoming!", yelled Callie, seeing two teams jump in on both sides of the Octonozzle.
"The first of Octavio's generous gifts!", Stormsurge's voice suddenly boomed through the machine. Three over here defeated the original...and it will not happen anytime soon with the improvements the Revolution has made to this Great Octoweapon!", she proudly boasted.
"Villains and their speeches...", Evan loudly said, ostensibly yawning. "Get on with it, Stormsquitch!", he called out, mocking the Commander.
"The obnoxious Agent Four.", she responded. "Well, Octavio's machine shall take you down and assimilate you.", she said, as she Super-jumped away from the machine. The machine noticeably now has tank treads, no doubt for mobility, and is a lot smaller than Jesse remembers. Some indistinguishable digital yells later, the machine, as well as the fireteams advanced towards the five of them.
"One, Four, Five, deal with the fireteams. Me and Three will deal with the mecha.", Marie called out the plan, already moving to high ground. "Keep them off our tentacle and we'll do the same.", she said, tossing a Curling Bomb.
"On it!", the rest collectively affirmed. Callie and Evan stood by each other, while Jesse and Marie picked opposite sides to work on for coverage. Barely had they assumed position when the Nozzle fired its balls at the Splatoon, aiming for the frontliners first.
"They covered the tentacles with net!", Jesse called out, starting to snipe the telltale tentacle. "And...it has two nozzles now?", she said, confused at what she was seeing. She tossed an Autobomb to help out with the frontliners' efforts. The Octolings weren't making things easier, the squad only managing to dodge Blaster shots and deadly sloshes from their Sloshers. To make matters worse, they were throwing Splat Bombs themselves, one nearly catching Eight hadn't Callie pulled her out when she did. Callie then swung at the offender in retaliation, while Shannon swam away to recover. Evan was proving a match for the Blasters, seeing as the fire slower than him. The Octolings weren't deterred, timing their shots to the best of their ability, managing to graze Evan some times.
Marie meanwhile, was laying down supporting fire, as well as firing on the Octonozzle Noveau. She squidded out of the way as the nozzle fired one of its fanning shots at her direction, narrowly missing her. Evan almost got caught unawares hadn't it been for his reaction skills, which had been honed two years running now. He barely dodged the cyan spheres, holding on onto a sliver of purple ink.
"Damn that was close!", Evan exclaimed.
"I should agree, Four.", said Shannon, flicking at a Slosher. It did its job, catching the opponent unawares. Shannon then dodged another ink orb from the Nozzle, shifting just in time to swim away.
"First tentacle down!", called out Jesse. "Hey, no kelp on the other one...", she observed, as the telltale tentacle sprouted out when its tentacle got shot. "Marie, you seeing that?", she asked her fellow sniper.
"Bright as day, Three.", she responded, lining up a shot. She steadily aimed at the blue-green tentacle and boom it went, disabling the machine for a while, before going into overdrive and respawning the splatted Octolings.
"Oh damn.", said Evan, seeing the enemy respawning.
"Well, looks like we have to destroy it to destroy them for good!", said Callie, tossing a Splat Bomb into the incoming fireteam, which manages to splat three out of four, leaving one heavily damaged, which Evan disposed of quickly, scooting off to help Shannon while Callie helped Marie with the other tentacle and made paths with her vertical flicks and Curling Bomb.
A Slosher opponent however, managed to land a hit on Evan, after a miscalculated move, running straight into her slosh. That earned the ire of Callie, who focused on the offending Sanitized, slamming her Roller incessantly against the opponent. Marie this time was the first to shoot down the tentacle, while Shannon nearly was caught by the fan shot of the machine.
"Careful there, Five.", said Evan, landing from a Super Jump beside Shannon, dodging a Blaster attack. Shannon and Evan took no time engaging them, making sure along the way that they don't get caught by the Nozzle's shots. Soon, Jesse popped down the other tentacle, which disabled the machine, exposing once more its tentacle on top. Both snipers landed at the same time, enraging the machine. It now fired faster, and shot more.
"Can't these guys stay splatted?", groused Jesse, seeing the remaining Octolings join their brethren atop the machine, no doubt to aid the Nozzle's efforts. All did their jobs, setting to clear them out as fast as they can. Evan once again harnessed his Inkour skills, dancing and weaving around the opponent and blasting them to splat, accompanied by the Roller girls, Callie and Shannon, who were dishing the best swings they can muster, both vertical and horizontal.
However, the Nozzle was going into overdrive, releasing 3 consecutive fan-shots in different ways, greatly compromising Evan, Shannon, and Callie's movements. Seeing this, Marie tossed an Autobomb where they were fighting the fireteams. Jesse, on the other hand, was concentrating on busting the goop-covered tentacles, which were taking longer than usual to put down. The machine was busting out all the stops; it fired big balls one moment, then fan-shots the next, then line shots, greatly messing with the frontliners' efforts to put down the fireteams. One such member was lining up a slosh on Callie, but Evan caught on, letting loose on the trigger. It was too late to change direction, and thus, she was splatted.
Marie then helped Jesse bust down the machine to hopefully incapacitate it. Marie was covering the right side, while Jesse did have the left. The frontline made the Octolings almost feel like amateurs in comparison, easily dodging them with a few lucky shots...nothing they can't recover from with dipping in ink.
"Thanks, Four.", Callie blushedly said to Evan, dodging as she swung at a Slosher enemy.
"Not a problem, One." he replied, tossing a Splat Bomb at his opponent. It did its job, exploding right at the enemy's foot, splatting her.
"That should be all of them!", said Shannon, splatting the last of the Sanitized fireteams.
"Right.", Evan said, as he let loose on the remaining tentacle, pausing to let Jesse or Marie take the final shot. "Ladies?", he called.
"Got it, Four.", responded Marie. She then effortlessly sniped down the tentacle, stunning the machine, revealing three tentacles this time.
"Three now? Well, it doesn't wanna go now without a fight huh?", said Callie, observing the difference. "Alright, cuz, help me with one, you and Jesse knock down the other, Shannon, take down the other.", she ordered. "Let's go!", she said, rushing to put the tentacles down. And soon, it burst, explosively shedding off it's parts, revealing something...a crystal.
"Guys...you're seeing this?", Evan asked, holding the seemingly clear crystal.
"Seeing, working on believing.", quipped Jesse.
"Have they...found...", said Marie
"...A replacement for Zapfish?", said Callie.
"That material...it's unheard of...", mused Shannon, "not even back when I was still in Wasabi Academy.", she added, as she rolled leisurely in front.
"It's...sparking.", Evan noticed, observing the blue sparks it gave off before pocketing it.
"Ambush!", Jesse warned the group, immediately training her sniper at a target. Some Octolings jumped into view, as well as some Sanitized troops. Jesse went for the Octo-sniper, while Marie went for the Troopers, while Callie dealt with the Octolings, one with a Roller and the other on the Octo-shot. All three dealt easily with the ambushing party, having dealt with similar before.
They then decide to scope out the other side, and were blocked suddenly by a handful of troopers and Copters, accompanied by Commanders. Evan began by tossing a bomb in front of the main pack, thinning them out while Shannon finished off the rest of the troopers by rolling them over, turning her attention to the Commanders, who she easily manipulated around, lurching in for the kill. Evan, having the firepower to reach high targets, had his hand full on the Copters...had he been an ordinary Turfer. One by one, they all dropped like flies, and the others' assistance was deemed unnecessary.
Later, they split into parties to reach the hostages from different angles: Marie was with her former ward Evan, Callie opted to go alone, annoyed Evan was taken by Marie, and Jesse opting to go with Shannon. They disposed of threats along the way, so that no one can report back to the Commander. Soon, one of the teams had visual.
"Two, I got visual on the hostages.", said Callie, hiding behind a wall.
"That soldier on the Sting Ray has some kind of a perma-Ink Armor, hold fire.", Marie whispered. "Four, what you see?" she asked her companion.
"Heavy security guys. And...modified weapons.", he trailed off. "I just want my friends back without anyone else harmed." he began, his voice almost pleading. "Let's do this right, Splatoon.", he told the group over the radio. "Try not to splat one of our own." he said, a little more lighter-toned.
"We hear you Four.", Shannon assured the Inkling male.
"All the more reason these squits deserve the business end of my gun.", Jesse snarled, while I'm squid form, swimming along her ink.
Meanwhile, just over the wall...
"The hostages need to be alive until I say so.", Stormsurge ordered her warriors. "The Splatoon? Gun them down, with extreme prejudice.", she said, in a digital tone. "Keep a team on the hostages, and don't push that button until I say so or I get splat. Understand?"
"Understood, commander.", they all said in unison, without any trace of any emotion at all.
"Elites, on me, we shall the grounds, I am sure these pesky primitives are sneaking nearby...", she snarled, still having an echoing effect, as a side effect of her advanced Sanitization. Her guard carried weapons that were...unconventional to say the least. The guard was carrying something similar to an Octo-shot, but had definitely a longer barrel...no doubt for range.
"That's some fancy tech right there..." Jesse squinted close, squidding down to avoid being detected by the guard. "Probably modified by whoever the fuckfish is bankrolling them now...", she grumbled, holding on to her Hero Charger 2.
"Alright, Marie, what's the play?", asked Evan.
"We silently take out the detail guarding the hostages. Make the Octo on the Ray point it literally anywhere else other than Four's friends... And fend off Stormsurge's guard.", she stated the plan. "Just a heads up, she has some type of Ink Armor that is quite unlike ours...", she added.
"Ink Armor fades after 3 seconds. This does not.", Shannon stated simply.
"And remember guys, we can't afford accidental splats on the hostages.", Evan reiterated.
"Well aware, Four.", Jesse affirmed. "Ain't it time yet?", she groused, itching for action.
"We take the search party by surprise.", said Callie. "We squid, they go past or over us, then unleash chaos.", Callie said with a mischievous grin. "They'll never know what hit em.", she said, pacing in squid form.
Meanwhile...
"Commander, what do we do with the hostages if the Splatoon plans to seize them?", asked one of Catalina's guard.
"If we aren't back in 30 minutes, they have orders to eliminate them.", the commander replied. "I have brought down the order while the Splatoon were busy with the Octonozzle Nouveau. That Ray fires the moment I tell her to.", she told her.
"Right.", said the guard.
"Alright, split up! Three to the left, the rest, with me! Move!", she commanded. The Elite Guard moved as ordered, and Jesse trained her sights on them, careful not to be seen in Inkling form.
"The Guard has split.", Marie whispered into her comments.
"What do we do?", replied Shannon.
"Evan, Callie and me ambush the one with the commander, Jesse, Shannon, take the other group. When they get past us, we strike.", Marie laid out the plan. "Alright, Splatoon, let's go!", she said, the team dispersing to their positions as planned. All were careful not to catch the attention of either the Elite Guard or Commander Stormsurge.
"Three in position.", said Jesse to Shannon, set up in a perch high above the patrol.
"Take the shot, Jesse.", said Shannon, hiding on a small spot of ink. And without a second thought, Jesse let go of the trigger, aimed at the Elite Guard, who went off instantly. Using the confusion, Shannon emerged from the ink, to their terror. But one thing made itself clear: the guns that the Elite were using were not anything she has seen anywhere, Octo Valley or Inkopolis. Nevertheless, she slammed her Roller around the best she could.
Meanwhile, Marie was waiting for the commander to pass by, careful not to let show her laser sight. Evan was hiding out somewhere near the waters, while Callie hid in a wall. But...they noticed something off: a purple sight. The Guards noticed it too, but Callie noticed them too, and tossed a Splat Bomb at them. They promptly scattered to avoid the blast, which heavily damaged the two Guards accompanying Stormsurge.
"The meddling subspecies! Eliminate them!", she coldly & furiously ordered her companions. As she brought down the order, Marie pulled the trigger, but missed her target, opting for another target instead. Already, the weapon they wield was too apparent it wasn't anything they had encountered before...range of a Pro for the speed of the regular shooter? It was too much, they all thought.
But all of that will have to take a backseat as the commander radioed a deadly message to the guards remaining to oversee the hostages.
"Fire the Ray.", she coldly commanded.
Cold fear engulfed everyone who heard that...especially Evan.
Can the Splatoon stop the Stingray from splatting the hostages, his friends? How will the Splatoon deal with all of them? Stay tuned...for the next chapter! Catfish out.