Dual Fates

A Splatoon Fanfic

By The Impartial Hand

Chapter 8: Riding the Eye of the Storm

Green's Workshop, Inkopolis

What was once a well-organized workshop now looked like a tornado had ran through it. Evergreen's forces had been thorough in their search, but they certainly hadn't been discreet; nothing had been left where they had found it, and many tools and weapons had been stolen outright. Despite how through they were, however, none of them had thought to check the floor; and indeed, at that very moment, something stirred under the workshop.
-KZZZTCHK-
-INITIALIZING...
-PERFORMING SYSTEM CHECKS...
-ALL SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL...
-UNIT DESIGNATION: GIGATONNE
-STATUS: ONLINE
-MISSION OBJECTIVES RECEIVED
-CURRENT OBJECTIVES: RESCUE CURRENT MASTER
-CURRENT SEC-BZZT-SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: AID IN LIBERATION OF [CURRENT LOCATION NAME] FROM [INSERT ENEMY]-BZZT-FROM OCTARIAN FORCES

Above Inkopolis, The Vampire

07-34 gazed out across the city from the helm, grinning as he watched the Octo-Weapons tearing through buildings and military vehicles alike.
"So. Still sure that your "friends" are coming to save you, Inkling? Your city lies in ruins, your armies are failing, and-"
"When... did I ever say... that it was my friends... who would save me? I... just said... I was getting out... of there. And now, I'll get out of here... too."
07-34's eyebrow twitched, his confident smirk slightly faltering as he turned around to face the captive Inkling. He'd had the prisoner chained to the ceiling, suspended by each arm as if being crucified.
"You'd think that, for a being possessing a basic intelligence, you'd eventually stop talking back to me." 07-34 pressed a button, and a sub-dermal implant he'd had put in the prisoner emitted a powerful electric pulse. Green gritted his teeth, but eventually could bear it no longer and began to let out screams of pain, much to 07-34 enjoyment. After a few minutes, the Octoling pressed the button again, shutting off the current, and Green hung limp; breathing, but having had the strength sapped from him.
"Honestly, even a rat would have learnt by now."

Inkopolis Outskirts

Morado's car weaved through traffic, fighting against the flood of people driving the wrong way just to get out of the city. Eventually, he swore, cutting off the road and gearing up to proceed on foot. It only took him a matter of minutes to reach the meeting spot, where Naranja was busy taking out stray Octolings that ventured too close- the tiny, octo-shaped ghosts they left behind a sign that they had likely already gotten their hands on some of the many turf-war issue respawn pads scattered throughout the city. He wasted no time climbing up to the sniping perch, before taking stock of what could be seen from the vantage point.
"They came in this morning from the north. It's chaos. Evergreen seems to be doing his best to sabotage any kind of police effort, and we're already getting unconfirmed reports of casualties."
"We?"
"I put a call out to the league teams. We've been coordinating rescue efforts as best we can, but I gave clear instructions to flee if any of them encounter Octo-Weapons. None if them are equipped to take those on. So far they seem to be avoiding the Square and the Plaza, so we've designated those as staging points for evacuations, and Judd's keeping a careful eye from the tower to give us a heads-up on their movements."
"Have you heard from Carmine?"
"...No. I haven't." Vermillion checked a display- a modified Inkstrike marker- "...But we've got something big heading away from her last known position. Do you have your Inkstrike pad handy? I'll punch in the frequency for you, since it's not a standard turf war channel."
As Morado handed his pad over to Naranja, he tried again to call Carmine- no answer. And, knowing that their was enemy activity at her last location...
Naranja handed the pad back, before packing up his gear. "Alright. Let's go make sure she's alright."
"What?"
"Carmine. That's were you're going, and I'm not letting you go alone. Vermillion would kill me if I let you go alone and you got hurt."
"...Right." The two quickly disembarked, doing what they could to help with the evacuations as they forged a path through the city... but...
...As they arrived at the former safe house, it was pure devastation. The building lay in ruins... not a sign of any survivors in the rubble... Morado collapsed against a wall as he spotted the sleeve of a jacket poking out from the rubble... her jacket... stained with ink as red as blood...

Vermillion and the others had finally arrived, doing what they could to coordinate evacuation while also keeping the Octarians off them... They took out a squad of Octobombers, briefly skirmishing with OctoWhirl before it fled for repairs... before finally regrouping at the plaza.
"Has anyone seen my idiot brother yet?"
Cobalt shook his head. "Nothing, and no sign of Naranja either. What I do have is eyes on Octavio's Flagship, and 07-34's ship, too."
Vermillion sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "...Then we head for those. Let's keep it moving, Inkopolis can't afford for us to rest."

...Morado's phone began to ring. Expecting to get chewed out, he answered it... only to hear a voice he hadn't expected.
Her voice.
He jumped to his feet.
"Carmine!? Where are you? Naranja and I just got to the safehouse, but there's nothing left here- are you alright!?"
The connection was poor, but she answered as best she could... "Cozy... Manta... Can't hold them off forever... Hurry!..." and the line went dead.
Morado took off, Naranja just barely keeping up as they wove through side streets to get to the meeting place... and as he arrived, Naranja saw the tail end of Morado laying waste to the squad of Octobombers that were attacking the cafe. They both then rushed inside, almost getting clotheslined by Carmine as they did.
"Oh, thank god!" was all Morado said before tackling her with a hug, half-laughing and half-crying.
As the two got back up, Carmine gestured to the others in the cafe... wounded, dying... "...We can't move them. The best we can do is draw attention away from them, which I was trying to do until those... bomb things showed up.
"Octobombers. We should get moving, it's only a matter of time until they come back, but if we move we should be able to divert their attention."
As they took off, though, heading for the city's edge... the ground shook, accompanied by the screeching of metal...

Before any of them could be sure of where the noise was coming from, the mighty Octostomp crashed through the shop to their left, spraying them with debris as it let out a surprised -Ding!-
"Th-that's it! That's the thing that destroyed the safe house!"
Morado's eyes narrowed. "Octostomp. This area's no good, we need somewhere flat and wide to fight it. Naranja, get Carmine out of here, I'll draw its fire."
Carmine stammered for a moment, bewildered as she swatted Naranja's hands away. "Octo-what!? Morado, how do you know what that thing is? How do you know how to fight it!?"
"Now's really not the-"
He shoved Carmine abruptly, diving sideways just in time to make sure Octostomp targeted him and not Carmine, before inking the ground beneath him with a burst bomb and sinking into it. Octostomp arrived at the pool, stopping and looking around- and just as it spotted and locked onto the now-retreating Carmine and Naranja, Morado popped up out of the ink again, tossing a burst bomb at its face and inking more ground with his heroshot before diving into it once more as the Octostomp roared and jumped, landing face-down where he had just been. As it worked to get back up, Naranja and Morado quickly inked a path down a nearby alleyway before slipping out of Octostomp's line of site... and then continuing to weave down side-streets and back-alleys until they couldn't even hear the Octoweapon anymore. Carmine was the first to speak as they caught their breath.
"Okay. Now, answers?"
Morado checked his pad. The enemy ink was spreading, but not towards them... "Alright. We've got time for the short version. Carmine, my brother's friends and I have been fighting the Octarians for a long while now, including that machine. We are the Agents."
Carmine... seemed to take the news rather well? Her face didn't even really change, much...
"...Carmine?"
"...That's it? Honestly, considering some of the things you three have done, that feels... pretty tame."
"That's about it, yeah. Now, we've got to get you out of here. I'm not saying you can't defend yourself, but... this isn't a turf war. If you get hurt, or cod forbid, even killed... I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

Vermillion nodded. "Alright. If she's safe, we need you to not run off by yourself again, please? Now, did you see anything of note while getting Carmine out of the city?
"We've already spotted Octostomp earlier, it tried to attack us and Carmine. We gave it the slip, but it appears to be ignoring collateral damage, meaning I would assess it as the biggest threat."
"Got it. We'll try and take it out on out way to our primary objectives."
"Primary objectives?"
Vermillion nodded again. "You'll be with Cobalt, Persimmon, and Agents One and Two, heading onto Octavio's flagship. Naranja and I will be heading to the Police Headquarters, for Evergreen. Violet-"
"Violet?"
Vermillion gestured to 07-35. "She's selected Violet as her callsign. Anyways, She's going for 07-34's ship. She says she can get onboard without tipping them off, but she can't do so while bringing anyone else with her."
"Got it. Anything else-"
The agents, along with Violet, spun about as they heard a metallic noise coming from a side street... They raised their weapons, taking aim, but... what emerged was beyond their expectation...
A robot. Vaguely Inkling in shape, but lacking any approximation of tentacles... and the proportions were off... no... not a robotic Inkling... a robotic human...

-IDENTIFIED: OCTOLING.
The robot raised its arms, several weapons popping out...
...It didn't appear to be hostile to the agents, though, only pointing its weapons at Violet and lowering them as Naranja stepped in the way.
-RECOGNIZED: AGENT 5. AGENT 6. AGENT 3. AGENT 7. NARANJA MAGENTA. AGENT 1. AGENT 2. CONCLUSION: OCTOLING IS NON-THREAT.
Vermillion squinted as he started at the android. "What... the hell are you?"
-REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED. UNIT DESIGNATION DESIGNATION G-1, A.K.A. GIGATONNE. UNIT IS THE ONLY FUNCTIONAL ULTRA-HUMANOID MODEL CURRENTLY IN SERVICE
"Great. Now, what the hell is an Ultra-Humanoid?"
-REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED… CLEARANCE GRANTED… UNIT WAS CREATED BY PROFESSOR -ERROR, NAME FILE NOT FOUND- IN THE YEAR 3027 IN AN ATTEMPT TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF HUMANITY, HOWEVER, UNIT WAS NEVER FULLY ACTIVATED. IN THE YEAR 12016, UNIT WAS REPAIRED AND REACTIVATED BY C- ERROR- GREEN JAUNE.
Vermillion didn't have any more time to ask questions, though, as the Octostomp suddenly crashed through a nearby building, spotting Morado once again with a -Ding!- before taking note of the other agents!
"Gigatonne!? Engage Octostomp!" Vermillion quickly barked out, both surprised by Octo-Stomp's entrance and eager to see how well Green's robot fared against the Octo-Weapon
-CONFIRMED. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES UPDATED. ENGAGING TARGET: [OCTO-
Gigatonne was cut off as the Octo Machine slammed down onto it. The agents watched, shocked- it hadn't even attempted to dodge... was the machine faulty? Had Green not finished working on it-
-REPEAT: ENGAGING TARGET: [OCTOSTOMP].
With a groan of protest, Octostomp was heaved into the air, the human-shaped robot seemingly unharmed as it looked up.
-TARGET CONFIRMED.
And, in an almost nonchalant fashion, the robot reached up, and tore one of the Octostomp's mechanical eyes from it's face; before slamming it down on it's top, the machine's legs flailing uselessly in the air as it's systems attempted to right itself from a position it calculated should be impossible. Just as it seemed it would be able to get back up, Gigatonne walked over, rocking itself back before putting it's entire body weight into shoving the machine, sending it skidding across the ground, ripping up pavement until it hit a nearby storefront with such force the front half of the building collapsed on it.
-CONFIRMED. TARGET: [OCTOSTOMP] HAS BEEN DISABLED. AWAITING FURTHER COMMANDS...
Octostomp, though, seemed to disagree, launching itself from the rubble and trying to crush Gigatonne once more. And, just like the first time, Gigatonne merely hefted the Octo Machine back up, though when it dropped Octostomp on it's top once more, Gigatonne reached into the now-empty eye socket and began tearing various bits of wiring and machinery out, before finally finding what it seemed to be looking for.
-INITIATING "MOVIE QUOTE DOT EXE"... "This looks important."
And Gigatonne tore it out, holding it up as if to show it to the agents before dropping it and crushing it under it's foot. Octostomp tried to get back up, but stumbled, crashing into another building before falling over onto its face, a tentacle popping out its back hatch.
Vermillion cautiously approached, weapon raised towards the tentacle. "Excellent... Mind saying what you did?"
-QUERY CONFIRMED. PREEMPTIVE SCAN INDICATED TWO GYROSCOPIC STABILIZERS. TARGET UTILIZES GYROSCOPIC STABILIZERS TO "BALANCE'; HOWEVER, SCAN ALSO INDICATED ONE STABILIZER WAS NON-FUNCTIONAL DUE TO INSUFFICIENT REPAIR. UNIT REMOVED FUNCTIONAL GYROSCOPIC STABILIZER; UNIT ESTIMATES APPROXIMATELY TWENTY-FIVE TO THIRTY MINUTES BEFORE TARGET IS ABLE TO REPAIR NON-FUNCTIONAL STABILIZER. TARGET IS, EFFECTIVELY, DISABLED.
"Nice. Alright, Agents, let's wrap this up." Vermillion took aim at the tentacle, but before he could fire, Violet stepped into the way.
"W-wait! That's... that's an Octoling in there! This far from home base... they'll die if we splat them!"
Vermillion shook his head, side-stepping Violet. "That's war. People die. We can't just let them get up, or they'll hurt more people."
"But... What if I could reason with them!? I'm an Octoling, right? So, I should be able to go in there, and maybe I can at least pull them out if I can't reason with them!"
Vermillion paused for a moment, before looking at Gigatonne. "Keep that thing held down, yeah? We..." He turned back to the other agents "...we need to discuss this. Violet. You said it takes special training to pilot those, yeah? How do we know you'll be able to even get out yourself?"

Violet's every sense was flipped upside-down, then shuffled for good measure. Sight became sound, the metallic smell of the machine's insides was all she could taste, and the music...
She had almost forgotten the music entirely, but in this machine, it was worse, as she wasn't hearing it, rather feeling it, the hypnotic tunes seeping into every fibre of her being, telling her to stay, telling her to keep driving the machine no matter what. The outside world didn't matter, she had to obey, obey Octavio, engage Inklings on sight... She couldn't feel where her body ended and the machine began, she was the machine, she could see the Inklings, she had... had to... had to resist, don't fight the inklings, fight the music... there, right there, where she couldn't feel herself or the machine, that's where the pilot was. She grabbed, pulling, pulling, but no matter how hard she pulled, she couldn't get out... she couldn't get out! Panic began to set in... she had told them to finish the machine off if it attacked again, and if she couldn't get out, she'd be finished off with it! And the music... by the second, it was getting harder to resist, wearing down her defences... it was familiar, like an old jacket, it felt right... no! No, it wasn't right, she had to...
Had to...

Outside, Naranja looked at the Octostomp, then back to Vermillion. The two had stepped aside under the pretenses of planning their side of the operation to liberate Inkopolis, but currently...
"She's taking too long, Vermillion."
"Then I'll-"
"That won't work and we both know why. Only I have a chance of getting her out."
"Yeah, and we both know I'm not going to let you."
"You'd rather let her die, Vermillion? That's not very like you."
"Naranja..."
"Either I pull her out, or both her and the pilot die. I'm not worth two people, Vermillion."
"We both know I disagree with that notion strongly, Naranja." Vermillion placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Be safe."
"When am I not?"
Vermillion remained silent. He wanted to say something back, but... now wasn't the time for that. He only watched as Naranja walked up to the machine, shifting his colour to the Octarian purple during his approach, and climbed up, sinking into the purple ink before anyone else noticed.
As Naranja entered the machine, his experience was much the same, and yet, different. The machine was in turmoil, now, both welcoming him in and rejecting him; it sensed both a friend and an enemy. He could feel two absences, where Violet and the Pilot were, but he could also feel their life forces, their souls in... agony. This very construct emitted pain, on a level he had only felt before in terrible places. Mustering his strength, he lashed together the Octolings, binding them to him with his spirit before allowing the machine to push him out like it wanted to, pulling Violet and the pilot out with him.

As Naranja landed back out, his colour shifting back to his natural orange, the machine let out a low hiss, powering down. Vermillion helped Violet up, and as the others rejoined them, they looked at the pilot, still on the ground. To say she was tall would be an understatement; she was easily eight and a half, maybe even nine feet tall, her tentacles teaching down past her shoulder- far longer than the average octoling- and each one bearing a poison-green X marking on them, a marking they recognized from the tentacles they had burst when they fought the weapon back in the valley. Then... her eyes opened, and she panicked. The pilot scrambled backwards, and they had to quickly get in her way to stop her from climbing back into the Octo-Weapon. As she was stopped, though, she looked around the ruined street, and...
"Where... is this?"

Violet spoke up first. "Inkopolis! You're in Inkopolis, soldier."
"...Not possible. I've... seen Inkopolis, we were here before the Great Defeat... They couldn't have progressed this much in just a few months..."
The agents all visibly reacted to that last remark... and Violet spoke up again. "...Months? Soldier... the great defeat was over Forty years ago."
"...What? No, it was... It was six rotations ago... that's only twelve weeks."
"Rotations? Soldier, there are no... oh."
Vermillion stepped up, now. "What do you mean, rotations-" -only for the pilot to spit in his face, replying with a "I don't negotiate with Inkling scum."
Seeing the pilot's reaction, the others backed up, out of earshot, to let Violet speak with her...
"...Soldier. What do you mean by "Rotations"? The Octo-Weapons don't have rotations."
The pilot looked baffled. "Excuse me? The Octo-Weapons operate on two-week rotations, soldier, I would expect you to know this. What is your name, and the name of your commanding officer? I'll have you shipped back to boot camp if we survive this."
Violet looked... conflicted, to have to say a name she so recently left behind, but... "Designation 07-35, comm-"
"Zero what- I said NAME, soldier! Not some... number..." The pilot was finally getting a good look not at her surrounding, but... the weapons the agents had...
"...Soldier, what kind of weapons are those Inklings using? Those... Those can't be standard, right? Those... those have to be experimental..."
Violet responded by drawing her own weapon, an octoshot she had looted from a incapacitated octoling... "...They aren't. Neither is this. Soldier... I'm not lying. The Great Defeat was over Forty years ago... We don't use rotations for Octo-Weapons anymore. I think... I think Octavio was just going to leave you in-"
"Lieutenant Octavio!? They put that brainless sack of clams in charge of the Octo-Weapon division!?"
"...A lot has changed since before your last rotation, soldier."
As Violet filled the pilot in on how much she had missed, the other agents were continuing to plan their next moves.
After a while, Violet rejoined the group. "Her name is Hali... god, an octoling with a name, that really tells you how old she is... Second in command of the Octo-Weapon division... She's been out of it since slightly after the Great Turf War."

Before they could continue their conversation, Naranja pointed, yelling out "Fin!"
The agents knew what this meant, breaking formation and taking defensive positions as Octomaw raced towards them...
The Octomaw stopped, though, as Hali stepped in the way. She made a strange gesture, and... it set down, as if it were about to bite, before an Octoling popped out of the spot where a tentacle would normally emerge.
Much like Hali, she was... abnormal. Her tentacles were lighter, with blue rings all along their lengths... and her beak was sharper, more pointed, almost like fangs...
...Naranja seemed to recognize her traits. "Incredible. It's... a Blue-Ring Octoling. I was under the impression Octavio had rounded them all up and put them out to pasture."
For the first time, Hali seemed surprised. "He... He did what?"
"Right, it makes sense you wouldn't know. He rounded up any Octolings who didn't fall within the genetic subset he belonged to. He was afraid, basically. Giant Octolings, Blue-Ring Octolings, the lot of you, any one of you could beat him one-on-one. He was afraid, and so he wiped out anyone stronger than him. I guess the reason he left you two alive was cuz he needed you to pilot the Octo-Weapons."
Octomaw's Pilot didn't seem surprised, though. "...That follows. Octavio... was a coward. Always envious, but more than happy to let us go first. Hence why he commanded, instead of fighting..."
"...Commander Hali. Third rotation OctoMaw Pilot Luna, reporting for duty. And... Third rotation Octomaw Pilot Luna, requesting permission to mutiny. I fucking hate Octavio."
"Permission Granted. I... Have half a mind to mutiny as well."
Vermillion spoke up. "You know, I know y'all don't like us, buuut, we were about to go take the fight to Octavio, if you wanted to join us."

A few minutes later... (Come on I don't need to reiterate their plan a third time right?)
"Right. Everyone knows their objectives? Then... Let's do this!"
The three groups split up, heading for they objectives... The fate of Inkopolis was in their hands... and if it fell... the world was next...

It seemed the Police Station was guarded, though... by the world's worst guard rock. Octonozzle squealed out a challenge, and attacked.
Vermillion dove right while Naranja rolled to the left, Octonozzle's attack rolling right on past them. Unlike literally every other Octo-Weapon, the Octonozzle had no crowd control abilities, only able to fire at a single target without even the ability to move- arguably, the weakest of the weapons, which Vermillion expressed as he shot the sucker-like bulb on its cylindrical "torso" section, causing the machine's eyes and head to spin as a tentacle popped out the top. Wasting no time, Naranja leapt through the air, landing on top of the weapon and slicing the tentacle clean in half, jumping off again at the bisected tentacle burst and the machine re-awakened.
It roared, popping out a second bulb on its torso and firing off a spread-shot at Naranja, only to leave itself open to an attack from Vermillion, who popped one of its suckers-
When suddenly, a flash of fang, claw and fury raced past Vermillion, as Luna attacked the weapon with everything she had; ripping the other bulb to pieces without even giving it a chance to burst, before clambering up to the top and attempting to wrench the now-exposed tentacle out of the Octo-Weapon. The Octo-Weapon protested, screeching, but the tentacle tore at the base, bursting as Luna held it about her head in triumph. It tried to shake her as it entered its third phase, but Luna held firm waiting semi-patiently as the two Inklings made short work of the bulbs before she tore the last tentacle out much like the second. Octonozzle let out a defeated squeal, powering down... and the three proceeded into the station, ready for a tough fight to the top...

They were on the thirteenth floor when Gigatonne stopped, staring out the window for a moment before speaking.
-WARNING. HOSTILE OCTO-WEAPON APPROACHING. ANALYZING... TARGET: [OCTOWHIRL] CONFIRMED. PERMISSION TO ENGAGE?
Morado cursed under his breath. He had been hoping to keep the robot with them for longer, but they wouldn't be able to board Octavio's ship if Octowhirl brought the building down on them. "Affirmative. Engage. Keep it away from the building for as long as you can."
-CONFIRMED. CURRENT LOCATION GIVEN PROTECTION ORDER: PRIORITY ONE. ENGAGING TARGET.
With that, Gigatonne took a running start, before crashing through the window it had been looking out. It adjusted its fall, aiming to land on top of the whirling ball approaching the building. As it did, Morado and the others continued their ascent, The Immortal's shadow causing the tower's upper floors to be eerily dark. They had barely made it to the roof as the ship began to move again, Octoling shock troops spotting the agents and just starting to open fire before being taken out by Persimmon and Marie. The agents, along with Hali, rushed towards the retracting gangplank, quickly boarding the ship before it could get away.

For once, Vermillion was glad about Naranja's odd choice in pursuing swordsmanship. If not for that, they would have had no options for the numerous non-inkling officers that blocked their path as they fought their way up the floors of the Police HQ, though Naranja was careful not to strike fatal blows when he could avoid it. They had lost track of Luna, the group getting separated when the chief's younger brother had confronted them. As they proceeded up the tower, though, they began to run into more and more Octarians, necessitating quick weapon swaps on Naranja's part to avoid having to stain his blade with ink.

Luna's fight with the younger Evergreen was going... well, terribly. For Tesla, that was. The Moray, despite extensive training, simply lacked the bulk to shrug off her rapid attacks, and didn't possess the speed to dodge her, either. He had thrown himself into the fight so readily, and yet, now, he lay on the ground, bloodied, as the Octoling retracted her claws... and promptly felt an electric shock course through her body, Tesla having just managed to grab her ankle as he fell.

"You idiot. Why do you think that, despite the extensive Octarian presence in this building, they haven't begun taking prisoners? Why do you believe your chief surrendered so easily? Why do you think that two Inklings are currently fighting to get to your precious police chief?"
Tesla took a moment to think about it. He had thought of each of those occurrences separately, but now that she laid them out like that, together...
"...No."
"Your Chief didn't betray you. He simply never was on your side. Or at least, that's what the agents relayed to me. Forgive me if I'm more willing to believe them after they spared my life."
This couldn't be right... could it? But... that would explain so much. The "agents" in the building right now... one of them was Vermillion Seafoam, and the other was Naranja Magenta. Both siblings of the wanted fugitives, and Vermillion was a fugitive himself... Why would they be fighting against the Octarians? Why, unless what this Octoling was saying...
He let go of her ankle.
"...If what you're saying is true..."
"...Kick his ass. Nobody conspires against Inkopolis on my watch."

The agents had just finished concealing the last charge before they were surrounded, all avenues of escape cut off by heavily-armoured shock troops... troops who quickly escorted them to the bridge, where Octavio was waiting.
He chuckled as they were brought before him, motioning for them to be brought before him.
"Well, well, well. Look, what the catfish dragged in. The Agents, so nice to join us, now see your city ripped fin from fin."

Morado spoke up.
"You haven't won, Octavio. Even if you kill us now, the victory will never be yours."
"Gwo-ho... Such noble last words. If that were true, it would be nice. Guards? Remove them. The port-side airlocks should suffi-"
At that moment, multiple explosions rocked The Immortal, signalling that their efforts had not been in vain... and for another moment, nothing seemed to change. After that moment, though, everything just... tilted. The entire flagship listed, careening to the left as it suddenly lost over half of it's propulsion and was no longer able to keep itself in the air. In theory, the crew could have recovered, brought it to land in the bay, if it weren't for the building the ship was about to plow through. Inkling and Octoling alike were tossed around like toys as the hull groaned in protest, not designed with such forces in mind. The glass of the atrium exploded inwards, showering the flight crew and agents with shards and bits of metal, and amidst the confusion, Octavio made his way to a door at the back of his command deck.

Carmine watched in disbelief, from a hilltop just outside Inkopolis, as the ship listed and plummeted. Morado... Morado was on that one, wasn't he? Of course he would be... And now...
She couldn't remain a bystander. She... She had to do something. Vermillion, Naranja, Morado... they had done so much for her already. It was her turn to help now.
Swallowing her fears, Carmine headed back into Inkopolis.

07-34 turned to face Violet as she was brought in, a smug smile on his face as he spread his arms wide, mimicking the position Green was suspended in.
"Well, well! Look who's here. Come to beg for forgiveness, traitor? Or, did you perhaps think that you could somehow take this entire ship down by yourself?"
Violet didn't answer him at first- instead taking a moment to quell the relief of seeing that Green was still alive.
"Hm. Well. Don't talk, then. Keep your secrets. This time, though..."
He drew his octoshot as the two guards flanking her forced her to her knees, before pointing it directly at her forehead.
"...I'll see to it you stay dead."
07-34 didn't have time to pull the trigger, though, before the entire bridge was thrown to the side, the ship listing and alarms beginning to blare as The Immortal crashed through a building to The Vampire's right and slammed into it's hull. 07-34 was flung, hitting his head on one of the control consoles, leaving him dazed; he didn't even have time to scream out for a status report before the ship's systems began alerting them all of a total loss of Starboard propulsion, the bridge now listing as the ship began to lose altitude. He could see Violet break free, but in his dazed state, the best he could do was brace for impact as Violet released Green's chains, catching him and diving for cover as the ground approached. Once again, the entire bridge was thrown around, as the ship crashed all around them.

When Violet came to, the remnants of the bridge were strewn about in a crater, fires smouldering among the wreckage. Green was... alive, but unconscious, and staring right at her was... 07-34. His Commander's mask had shattered during the impact, his face cut and bleeding ink, and as he stared, he scowled. She got up, defiantly, getting steady on her feet.
This wouldn't be easy.