Eight charged forward with a level of determination she's not had in years. The last time she had this level of determination she was fighting her way OUT of Kamabo to make it to the surface. But arguably she had an even bigger reason to be determined now. It wasn't just her own freedom at stake anymore, it was Three's LIFE.

Eight thankfully wasn't attempting this alone, she had Pearl and Marina guiding her much like last time she was going through Kamabo, though this time Marina had a much more detailed map of where she needed to go. As well as Callie and Marie performing the Inkantation as well to help Eight remain focused.

It wasn't long before Eight encountered the first bit of resistance. A team of Octoling foot soldiers were set between her and the first door she needed to get through. Back in her rebel days, she would fight and defeat Octolings because she had no choice, but here? These Octolings were perverted by Sanitization… defeating them was a mercy. However in her current state, Eight didn't feel very merciful, she felt rage.

She screams and charges right at the group, dodging a blast of ink and grabbing the one who fired it by the shirt and shamelessly slamming them into the others with them to keep them from firing on her, and without hesitation she raises her octoshot and finishes the job.

This is the second time Kamabo has tried to take everything from her, she's not going to let them get away with it. She charges forwards through the first door and it wooshes shut behind her. Eight takes a moment to examine her surroundings, she's on a narrow platform with a straight line directly to the next door, but on either side of her is a ledge with no railing and a drop directly into water, no room for error. She then hears a familiar beep, that of an Octo Sniper locking on to her position and she dodges to the side as the sanitized ink flies right through where she was standing previously and splattering against the door she just came through.

"They're too far away for you to hit with your weapon, you'll have to move fast!" Marina's voice calls through her headset. Eight takes one look at where the shot was fired from and sees that it's not the only one targeting her, she's going to have to book it for the next door, no sense trying to fight them.

Eight takes a quick breath and starts running for her life. She hears herself being locked on to again, and when the next blast of ink is fired she ducks her head and it whizzes harmlessly past her. Unfortunately the next shot is fired much sooner than she had anticipated and she's hit by it right in the chest. She falls backwards, fires a couple shots from her Octoshot, and dives into the ink to recover. She had forgotten just how much it stings to get hit by the sanitized ink of Kamabo. Her body however is quick to repel the damage thanks to being submerged in her ink, and she then leaps out of it quickly, sprinting for the door. She figures if she moves fast enough they won't be able to get a lock on her, but unfortunately this requires far more effort than she had anticipated.

She quickly makes it through the next door, a blast of ink flies through the opening and into the room she's now in before she slams a button on the control panel and it too comes closed quickly. Once she catches her breath she takes a look at the room she now occupies, for one it's far less dangerous than the last one, which Eight thinks is a nice thing. It seems to be filled with just scrap metal, perhaps this is where those Octo Weapons she destroyed while going through the tests in the Metro wound up. All the metal plates look dented and shredded so it's entirely possible. It could also be part of a recycling project to take old metal and turn it into something else. Eight really doesn't care much at all about that however.

Eight pulls out the CQ-80 she had with her, quickly navigating to the map that Marina had uploaded to it to find where Three was and… wait that can't be right…

"Marina I've got two points of interest on my map here…" Eight says into her headset, confused at the two blinking dots on her map. One of them is actually not very far from her and would be damn near on the way to the other.

"What the… okay hold on I'm looking in to it" Marina's voice calls back, faint typing can be heard through the headset as EIght remains ready in case an ambush comes through one of the doors. "It seems that when the system detected that you had entered the facility, it automatically uploaded a point of interest to your map. I know we need to save Three but you should consider at least taking a look, it's only a tiny detour."

"Alright, moving forward then." Eight focuses again and closes her map, clipping the CQ-80 back to her belt. Surely there wouldn't be anything too dangerous at the point marked on her map. Okay it's almost definitely a trap but she's heading that way anyways. She takes a deep breath and pushes onwards, she only has so long to save Three after all.

Eight punches her way through the next set of hallways. Literally. She doesn't even fire her weapon, she just runs in and any enemies are met with rage and aggression. Though most of the enemies seem to be Octolings that have been sanitized, that's why this strategy worked. If you tried punching an OctoTrooper in the face they'd just bite your hand off, their mouths are disturbingly large compared to their bodies. After tearing through her opponents and finding herself just one door away from the point marked on her map, Eight takes in a deep breath and pushes into the room.

What she finds is… not what she was expecting. It looked a lot like one of the old locker rooms from the Octarian Military Barracks. She even recognized that the numbering on each of the locker doors was distinctly Octarian. Naturally she was drawn to one locker specifically, the one that bore her number on the front of it. A giant Eight. She stepped closer to it and knelt down in front of it, she grabbed the combination lock in her hands and without even thinking, input the code and dropped the lock to the ground, leaving her free to access the contents of the locker.

Eight swings open the door, not sure what to expect. However she absolutely was not expecting what actually was contained within. There were her old hypnogoggles that became completely useless to Octavio after the Inkantation fried them. There was also her old Octoling chest armor, she knew it was hers because it had her name and rank laser etched into the side. "Kiaria Yuri Ida, First Unit Special Operations, Unit commander". Gods it had been so long since she had to think about her time in the Octarian Military that she was a little shocked to see her name, rank, and title, all staring her in the face. But there was something else in the locker as well, something behind her chest plate. Eight reaches in and pushes the plate aside and the golden object fills her vision. She reaches in and grabs it, studying it over.

"It's… a golden toothpick?" Eight says to herself as she looks over the object. It's golden, for one, and it looks like it's modeled to look like some kind of confectionary treat like a cake pop with a large toothpick through it. It honestly looks like something that might be used as a hair accessory… She's not sure what to make of it at the moment so she pockets it and continues towards where Three is on her map, she could figure out the mystery of the toothpick later.

She finds that between where she found the toothpick and where Three is supposedly being kept that there seems to be almost no forces. No Octolings trying to stall her, no OctoSnipers trying to take her out, no Octo Commanders trying to gun her down. And it honestly makes her incredibly uneasy. They're planning something, Eight can feel it. It's been almost three hundred meters without so much as the faintest hint of hostile activity. Eight doesn't like it, it feels like a trap. It's almost definitely a trap.

So yeah it was a trap.

Eight was hit over the back of her head just as she was about to breach the door to where Three is supposed to be. She can feel a little trickle of ink drip down her head but otherwise she feels fine, she's taken much harder blows during her time with the rebels so whomever hit her will have to try harder than that. Eight quickly regains her barings and turns to face her attacker. However instead of an Octoling like she had been expecting, her assailant turned out to be something entirely different. It seemed to be… an android of some kind? Eight wasn't too sure what she was looking at. That is, until it began to speak in a familiar voice that sent shivers down her back.

"Hello, 10,008." The unforgettable voice of Tartar rang through the android's body, like it was resonating from a speaker housed within the head but not quite soundproofed properly so it reverbs through the rest of it. "Come to save your pathetic little friend? I'm afraid you're too late, she's being processed as we speak."

Eight's eyes widen in horror, that can't be what's happening! Three wouldn't let them do that, she'd fight to her last breath! Especially if she thought there was even a chance that she'd hurt her friends if she didn't. Eight drops her weapon, she knows it won't do much against a non-cephalopod, and instead opts to try and rip the android's head off. She screams in rage and charges straight for him.

"LIAR!" Eight screams as tears stream down her face. Tartar attempts to dodge her but he fails miserably and she body slams his body into the wall. Immediately his systems flare up with errors, he had underestimated just how strong this one Octoling was. He recalibrates his systems quickly and pushes her off of him, taking a ready stance.

"Finally a worthy opponent! Our battle will be legendary!" Tartar laughs maniacally and throws a punch towards Eight. Eight, being focused and enraged, dodges the move and grabs his wrist, flipping him over her head and slamming him into the ground. More system errors. He had miscalculated his chances of winning this fight.

"GO TO HELL!" Eight grabs a disc off her belt, activates it, and while Tartar is down, she slams it into his chest. Tartar gets up and readies for another blow but Eight is now nowhere to be seen. Eight has ducked for cover behind the door she used to enter the room in the first place, and then the loud POP of the device detonating can be heard. Eight walks back into the room and looks over the now charred remains of Tartar. She laughs softly, oh how the mighty have fallen. She kicks what remains of the head of the body lightly and smirks. "So uncivilized."

Finally she makes it to her destination, but the door is… locked. Well of course it is, why not? She grabs another disk off her belt and sticks it to the door, standing back a bit and covering her ears before once again the disc detonates with a loud confirming POP. Shortly after, the large metal door falls over off of what used to be its hinges. What Eight sees when she comes through the door is not entirely what she had hoped to find, however there were still a great number of worse alternatives.

Looking into the room Eight sees… what she assumes is a partially sanitized Octoling. She doesn't have the same black sclera that all the sanitized Octarians did, and she's also discarded her hypnoshades. The one unsettling thing was the fact that she held a knife. However the blade was coated in sanitized ink which meant she'd been fighting Tartar's forces. The Octoling seems to relax as soon as Eight enters the room, which Eight takes as a good thing. However Eight's eased expression is quickly replaced as she spots… a puddle of orange on the ground behind her.

"Th-THREE?!" Eight pushes past the Octoling who seems content not to interfere with anything Eight is doing, in fact she seems to still be watching the door. Eight takes a moment to assess Three's condition and, oh this is not good. Three's breathing is labored, she looks like she's lost almost half of her ink, and her right tentacle has been severed. "Oh Three… I-I'm so sorry…"

Three perks up slightly hearing Eight's voice, the Inkling weakly raises her hand and brushes away Eight's tears. Three is in immeasurable pain, however she can't stand to see her girlfriend cry. Actually speaking of Eight being her girlfriend, Three had something important to ask her that she had… originally wanted to be under better circumstances. But Three isn't sure if she'll make it now, she doesn't want to miss her chance.

"E-Eight.. I-I need to a-ask you something…" Three coughs slightly and a splatter of orange ink leaks from her mouth. Eight holds Three's body in her arms and looks down at her, stroking her face gently and trying to remain calm.

"What… What is it Three?" Eight knows that time is short but… something inside her is telling her that she has to let Three ask her question before she moves her. Some part of Eight is dying to know what her lover would think is so important that it has to be asked now of all times.

"Eight… m-my love… my sunshine… my world… w-will you… m-marry me?" Three smiles a weak smile before coughing again, she's still wearing the same shirt she was on their last date… which was three days ago. Only it was stained with dried ink and would likely have to be replaced… assuming the owner was still around to replace it.

"Oh Three…" Eight smiles and small happy tears prick her eyes. She had assumed Three was planning to ask this question, she'd been acting differently lately and she could tell that Three was so much more nervous than usual. But to actually hear the Inkling say those words? Nothing could ever have prepared Eight for it. "Yes, of course I will!"

"Good… I'm glad…" Three's voice trails off as she loses strength and passes out. Eight quickly scoops Three up into her arms and checks her hearts and her breathing. They're all faint, but still working. Eight knows time is important so she turns back towards the door and runs out the same way she came in, adrenaline and love now fueling her body.

"We're coming out!" Eight calls into her headset as she sprints as fast as she can with Three unconscious in her arms. She presses a kiss to Three's head and hopes she is fast enough. She has to be fast enough. She's so close she can taste it, Three is going to make it. Eight wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't. Eight looks down at Three briefly and she hates how she can see just how much she had to go through, she's liable to have nightmares about this event for a long time, so Eight does one thing she hopes will help Three not have a nightmare right now. "Don't worry, my love. It's over now, it's over."