Chapter 13: From the Stars

Bridgett was still shaking a bit as her eyes remained locked on Gideon's photograph, scanning it for any type of red flag. Any sign of editing, any out-of-place detail, anything that would allow her to look up and call it fake. She couldn't remember such a photograph; She couldn't recognize the younger form of Gideon, whose hair hadn't grayed yet and who had the happiest smile on his face. She couldn't recognize the gorgeous woman that was now claimed to be her mom, with long Octoling hair and a face that resembled hers, with the same smile that hid a million other emotions behind it. She couldn't recognize her own younger form, so happy… so pure… so unaware of the events that would plague her down the line…

Her eyes were only pulled from it as Gideon stepped toward her, handing a cup to her.

"It's juice." He said. "Made it myself."

She ignored that, looking up at him. "…Where… did you get this…?"

"My archive."

"How did you make it?"

He chuckled. "With a camera."

She shook her head. "…There's a lie here somewhere… what is it?"

"There's… no lie…" He set the juice down and sat next to her. "Secrets? Sure. Things I have yet to tell you? Absolutely. But all will be revealed in time… Lydia." He touched her tentacle.

She leaned away, still shaking as she finally placed the photograph on its face. "…No, no, no… This doesn't add up… I can't remember… any of this… I don't recognize either of you… this doesn't… explain-"

"Take a breath." He held her shoulder. "I'm going to take this slow. To not overwhelm you. I can see now that you overwhelm easily." He chuckled. "The important thing to focus on right now is that… you're home."

She looked at him, stunned that he even had the guts to say such a thing, before she forced herself to stand up, groaning as she did. "This is not my home."

"And why's that?"

"I don't even know where this is." She turned to look at him. "And my home? It's up there." She pointed at the ceiling. "Home is at Marina's house, or at the apartment I share with Jessica, where there are actually people who are there for me. They're the closest to what I can call family."

He sighed. "I knew this would be a rough transition…" He stood up. "You're mistaking attachment for love… Your friends up there… are friends, sure. But you can't call them family. It's a team of vigilantes who are ultimately on the wrong side of a war… a war they don't know that they are already horribly losing…"

She didn't respond, silently staring at him.

"You think that they're family, Lydia? Don't forget…" He stepped toward her. "Half of them aren't even here for you right now. And they're not coming back anytime soon."

She froze. "…How… do you know about that…?"

He smirked slightly. "I've told you multiple times… I have a plan in motion."

The Safe Zone

Purple and green light reflected off of Marina's face as she stared deeply into the floating orb object in front of her, occasionally looking down again to write down any notes, even about minute details like how the electricity that emanated from it fluctuated and changed colors. She paused and looked through her notebook; She had written down multiple pages of notes on this thing, which included sketches and theories. Two things were for sure, One, that this device was powered by Axcian crystal energy, and two, it was also remarkably similar to the orb seen on the Octarian station. There was absolutely no denying it.

"This is the most important revelation of our lives." Pearl walked up to her, interrupting her thoughts.

Marina lowered her notes and looked at her. "What?"

"This place has cell service!" She held up her phone, showing it to her. "Look! I mean, yeah, it's useless cell service, and if I try to call anyone, or even use the internet, it does absolutely nothing, but still, we get bars in this place! Full bars! What the fuck!?" She laughed. "You have any explanations for that, 'Rina?"

"Not… at the moment, no." She looked back at the orb. "I'd say, more than likely, it's just some signal that's tricking your phone."

"Right, well, whatever. You still looking at that?" She stood with her as they both looked at the orb. "…What are you thinking about?"

She tapped her pen against her notes. "…We've seen Axcian crystals back on Earth… we're seeing Axcian crystal energy here in the Safe Zone… but on Axcia itself… the crystals appear to be dead. Or at the very least, dormant. And I don't know why."

"Do you… think that's a bad thing?"

"No, no, I'm just… confused."

She shrugged. "I'm just a little bummed that pretty much every species out there has achieved space travel and god-like power with these crystals while Inklings like me still only have social media and some dumb-fucking war victory as our greatest achievements."

She chuckled and reached over to pet her hair. "I'd say their greatest achievement was that someone has given birth to you. Just above your music, of course."

"Aww… you're the sweetest, 'Rina. C'mere." She held her tightly, giving her a kiss. She giggled and kissed her back as she put an arm around her.

Marie soon walked up, groaning as she saw their make-out session. "I thought you were studying."

Pearl broke off. "She's studying my face, fuck off."

She sighed. "Well, I hope you have what you need, because we're about ready to set off." She turned and walked off again. "Just thought I'd give you a heads-up, at least. Jesus…"

Marina took the opportunity to look through her notes one last time, glanced back at the orb, and then closed the notebook as she walked with Pearl. "Alright, come on."

In the Safe Zone's landing deck floor, the Ray had been repaired back to a usable state, which was largely due to the surprisingly helpful alien species that worked in the massive facility, who had provided new parts and energy, and had even helped them assemble a replacement wing.

Several minutes passed before Marina finally walked up, walking past Marie, who had been waiting for her. Marie looked at her as she walked with her. "So, did you find out anything?"

"Well…" Marina looked around. "The theory that this place is some kind of Axcian outpost is still… possible. But with no proof and with no creatures here that can understand our questions about this place, I don't suspect that we'll find definitive answers."

She sighed. "…Personally, I don't see why it matters. What does matter is that the Octarians are still out there. And… I just really can't wait to get out of this… nightmare."

"Yeah, same." As they approached the Ray, they found that Callie and Pearl were by the Ray's ramp, playing around with some playful, pet-like aliens they had befriended. One of them was a small, furry creature that was crawling all around Callie.

"S-Stop it, stop it, I'm gonna pee!" Callie laughed wildly.

"Oh my god…" Marie covered her face in embarrassment.

"...Guys!" Marina shouted.

The aliens stopped, scampering off in fear, while Callie and Pearl both calmed down. "Y-Yeah? Yeah?" Callie asked.

"Let's go. Now."

"Aw, man…" She slowly got on her feet alongside Pearl. "Those little guys just wanted to play with us..."

"Absolutely disgusting." Marie shook her head as she practically shoved Callie up the ramp. Marina and Pearl followed.

Some aliens that Pearl and Callie had apparently befriended also approached the ramp, waving and seeing them off, clearly sad to see them go in spite of the indistinguishable noises they were making.

"Bye, guys!" Callie waved back. "We'll miss you!"

"Peace out!" Pearl shot up a peace sign. "Rock on!"

The aliens stopped and moaned in response, apparently offended by whatever hand-sign that was supposed to be.

"Oh, shi-" She noticed and dropped it. "Sorry!"

Marie rolled her eyes and closed the ramp, starting to walk down toward the cockpit. "Glad to see you two had fun…" She said, bitterly.

"Er… sorry you didn't…" Callie replied.

"Whatever. Let's just get out of here."

They all climbed up to the cockpit, and got situated in their seats. Pearl sighed happily and rubbed her chair. "Mm, mommy missed these controls…"

Marina couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, it's good to be back. But let's not get too comfortable. We're not done with this mission yet."

She and Marie got ready. "Activating thrusters…" Marie soon said.

The aliens again watched as the Ray slowly and carefully lifted into the air, turned, and then slowly flew out the window, which of course briefly morphed to let them through. The Ray then sped up as they finally soared away from the Safe Zone and back toward the many stars, back on their mission that was far from complete.

Earth

Splatoon HQ

The doors slid open as Daniel came in first, holding the still-unconscious Cole, while Oliver and Samantha followed him in, with a more distant expression still stuck on Samantha's face. She didn't say anything as Daniel quickly found a seat to place Cole.

Cole slumped down as Sheldon quickly rushed over to cuff Cole's arm to the chair. "Oh, man. Not how this was supposed to go." Sheldon muttered.

"KRAKEN showed up, we couldn't stay there." Oliver replied.

"Are you two ok?" Cuttlefish walked up to him and Samantha.

"Yeah… we're fine." He replied, glancing at Samantha. "…We're fine, right?"

"Hm…?" She glanced back at him, turning toward Cuttlefish. "Oh… yeah, I'm fine…"

Daniel panted as he took a seat in a chair himself, but was quickly surprised as Sheldon came up to him, efficiently cuffing him to the chair as well. He immediately stood up. "What the fuck!? I thought we were rebuilding trust!"

Cuttlefish immediately turned to him. "Murdock, stand down."

Sheldon just smirked at him. "Trust? With you? Hehe. You're funny." He returned to his desk.

Cuttlefish stepped toward Daniel. "I told you there would be safeguards. Now, sit down. We'll discuss your actions in killing that KRAKEN soldier another time."

Daniel stared at him, frustrated, before he slowly sat back down without another word.

"Ok…" The old man then turned to look at Cole. "Let's get this guy woken up. I can tell he has information we need."

Samantha took her own seat as Oliver looked over. He stepped forward to pat Cole's shoulder. "Wake up." It took a few moments, but soon, he was able to shake him awake. "Wake up!"

Cole gasped as he looked around. From his dizzy perspective, Oliver was directly in his face, while Cuttlefish, Sheldon, and Samantha were all staring at him from more of a distance. "Hey…" His head jetted around as he looked around at the entire HQ, seeing the monitors and even the Splatoon emblem on the ground. "Hey. Oh… Oh, hell no…"

"Easy, young man." Cuttlefish gripped his cane. "We just want to talk with you."

He shook his head, standing up. He pulled against the cuffs. "No, no… let me out of here."

"Easy, easy!" Oliver shoved him back down. "We had to extract you to a safer place to get away from KRAKEN. But our interrogation is not over yet. You need to tell us everything you know about the Underdogs."

"The Underdogs aren't my game anymore, man!" He slid the chair backward as he struggled, still trying to pull on the cuffs as if that would get him anywhere.

Oliver simply walked toward him, grabbing the chair to hold him still. "We're not your enemy. At least, not if you can give us information. You said you heard things going around. We need to know what."

He looked around at all of the agents, not seeing any way out of this. "…If I talk, will you let me go?"

"Of course."

"...Will they know I was the one who talked?"

"No." Cuttlefish shook his head. "You'll be completely safe."

Sheldon folded his arms. "What was your position in the Underdogs when you were there?"

Cole kept pulling at the cuffs. "I don't know, I was just… I was one of Hugh Ward's many pawns. A dumbass faceless goon. I worked in the underground facility they used as headquarters, I helped give them intel and was an occasional foot-soldier. I hated it, man… We spent the whole time practicing how to kill Inklings and I even had to work with the, fucking… crazy chick with the knife fetish. Ok? Have I told you enough yet?"

"You worked in their headquarters?" He chuckled. "You're lucky Agent 3 didn't kill you."

"Yeah, because I was smart enough to know when to run. When the bitch with the Executioner mask came? I was out. Then when word of Hugh Ward's death got around, it was just my lucky day. I haven't had to look back."

"If you hated the Underdogs so much, why did you join them?" Cuttlefish asked.

"...'Cause I was a dumb teen in Octo Valley with delusions of grandeur when they were recruiting."

Sheldon scoffed. "So you were just in it for the thrill ride?"

"Something like that… is that what you wanna hear?"

"We're talking about the Underdogs as they were then, but we need to talk about how they are now." Cuttlefish said. "As Daniel told you, they've been reorganizing. Surviving Underdogs have been recruited by someone named Gideon Tecca."

Cole shook his head. "I don't really think it's 'reorganizing' like you think it is, man…"

"What do you mean?" Sheldon asked. "We've seen the new group in action."

"I mean that it has to be some kind of a cover operation. I talked to some of my old Underdog buddies about it. They were hired by some anonymous guys to do simple jobs. Move some shit around. Something about some… some whacky crystals. I don't know. But I don't think it went any deeper than that. Trust me, man… w-whoever was hiring them, I don't know, and I don't wanna know…"

The Splatoon agents looked around at each other, falling into silence.

Samantha stood up. "Are you telling us we've been hunting down the wrong leads for no reason?"

Cole sarcastically nodded. "Yeah…"

Sheldon rubbed his own cheek. "He has to be lying."

Oliver shook his head. "…No… no, I don't think he's lying."

Sheldon and Samantha both groaned. "Oh, for fuck's sake…" Sheldon briefly looked away, then suddenly turned toward Oliver, pointing at him. "If you're seriously telling us you just led us on a goose chase, I am so kicking you and Daniel out of here and surrendering you to KRAKEN."

"Hey, I didn't say that means this is a dead end. We haven't even discussed yet how Hugh Ward and Gideon Tecca have had ties before. A partnership. There's still a connection." He looked at Cole. "Have you heard of Gideon Tecca?"

"For fuck's sake, no!" Cole was getting frustrated at this point. "I barely even knew Ward! What, do you really think that just because I worked for him in the past, I'll magically have all the answers? He was enigmatic, I barely know shit."

Daniel shook his head, finally rejoining the conversation as he slid his chair over. "I don't really buy that he was partnering with anyone. Hugh Ward was a lone wolf, he didn't trust anybody unless they were at his knees."

Sheldon was now rubbing his forehead underneath his helmet. "Great, so now what?"

Oliver shook his head, again setting some of his notes down on the table. "The fact of the matter is that the two did work together. In the past. And I think it may have had to do with both the nanotechnology the Underdogs have used… and the crystals we are now dealing with. It all connects." He then turned back to them. "Bridgett and I connect to this whole thing, too… I know that much."

"...How's that?" Samantha asked.

"Hold on, do you…" Cuttlefish stepped forward. "Do you know Bridgett?"

"I… I can't say I… know her…" Oliver paused. Everyone was staring at him at this point, causing him to gulp. "…I have this… memory. And these… dreams. I dream of the memory often. It's me and her. In the green ocean. And there are masked people… these, uh… they're the same masked people I've been spending my life around…"

"The green…" Sheldon paused. "No fucking way."

"What?" Cuttlefish asked.

"The green ocean. I overheard Bridgett and Marina talking about it. I thought it was crazy talk, but it's one of the earliest things she can remember before the Metro."

"...Then that memory is the one thing that connects us." Oliver continued. "It's not just a dream. It was real. After all this time, I still don't have an explanation for it. I've thought about Bridgett and how this all connects for a long time… but at the center of all of it… of all of this… is Gideon Tecca. Whatever the memory is, I think he had something to do with it."

"...Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" Cuttlefish asked.

"To keep us focused… to speed up the process." He shook his head. "Or, admittedly, maybe it was… just because I was too scared to say it out loud…"

The rest of the agents remained silent as they thought about this. Even Cole and Daniel remained silent as they listened with curiosity.

"...My point is this…" Oliver continued. "This whole mission centers around Gideon. Ward connects to Gideon. If we can close in on their prior work together, we may receive more answers. This is why I've opted to pursue the Underdogs. It's not a dead end. It's just a step closer."

"...And what if you're wrong?" Sheldon asked.

"...If I'm wrong, then… we lose the war."

Cuttlefish looked down, while Samantha stared at the floor, in haunting silence.

The elderly squid gripped his cane tightly. "…Daniel. Cole. Hugh Ward's previous work is our next lead. We'll need to find it as soon as possible. Do either of you know where to look?"

They fell into silence for a few moments before Daniel spoke up again. "…Yeah…"

Everyone looked at him.

Daniel looked back. "I might."

?

Tears slowly fell down Bridgett's cheeks as the usual million thoughts raced through her head. If what Gideon was telling her was true, then… there was some relief in finally finding some answers about what went down in her past. Answers that she had wished to know for a long time. But that was just the thing; If we was telling the truth… it didn't answer everything. There was still so much she didn't know yet… and that terrified her to her core. What was Gideon planning for her?

She looked back at the cup of juice Gideon had left for her on the nearby table. It was, after all, a father's gift to his daughter, almost in apology for the way this was going down. She looked around, making sure nobody was watching, before she slowly reached forward and took it, finally taking a sip. She paused, more tears starting to fall. She knew it, deep down… he was telling the truth.

Minutes passed as she drank the juice, finishing the whole thing before she held the cup, thinking some more. She looked up as Gideon once again walked up to her.

"Delicious?" He asked.

She stared at him. At this point, it was pointless to still be hostile with him. "…Yes…"

"Good. Do you think you can stand?"

"...Why?"

"Figured it was time to give you a tour." He held his hand out. "C'mon."

Bridgett stared at him, hesitating a few moments longer before she slowly reached to take it. He helped her up. Being too weak to stand on her own, she ended up being forced to hold onto his arm as he guided her out of the room.

"…Are you finally gonna tell me what this place is? And where it is?" She asked.

"I've told you before that we're deeper than both the Valley and Canyon. We call it… Octo Mine."

She looked around as she was led out into the hallway of the lab. "A mine… so… the earthquakes-"

"Came from here. Yes." He delicately caressed one of her tentacles. "You catch on quickly."

"...Why? What are you mining?"

"We'll get to that."

She looked around more as they walked down the hall. There were some Octoling soldiers, some lesser Octarians like Octotroopers, but the soldiers… She had noticed this before, but they were all still wearing those mysterious black masks at all times. "…Why… are they masked?"

"Hmmm… confidentiality reasons." He patted her shoulder. "It's just how we run things down here. That's probably a question for later, though, isn't it?"

It wasn't a satisfying answer for her in the slightest, but… she supposed he was also right. Wasn't worth worrying about right this second. She fell silent as they kept walking, taking a few moments before she spoke again. "…If you're really my father… where have you been all this time? I have no memories of you…"

"That's because we got separated long ago… It's a touching story, and you'll understand why eventually, but as we speak currently, that's all… in the past. What matters now is that I'm here, you're here, and we still have a lot of work to do."

"What work?"

"Uniting the galaxy, of course."

She sighed. "…Of course…"

"You think I sound crazy?"

"You don't?"

"I've never been more clear-headed. Everything I'm doing, I'm doing for a reason. My work has always had reason. You'll see."

She looked down, again thinking about her next question. "…You were speaking, like… we're in a war… and that the Splatoon is losing… what… war is that, exactly?"

"It's the saaame war we've always been fighting, Lydia… for a hundred years. It's just under a different coat of paint now. And some of it, well, takes place in other parts of the galaxy now."

"...You're seeking the surface world…"

"We're seeking a free world for everyone, Lydia. One where the Octarians no longer have to suffer down here… you should know how the speech would go by now. And in time… you'll understand exactly what I mean. Because I'm going to show you. Once you're ready, at least."

She shook her head. "…You're not seeking a world for everyone… you sent those soldiers to attack the Square." She looked up at him. "You blew up a building."

"And no one got hurt, did they?"

"You took hostages."

"To get you and friends out of hiding. We had no intention on hurting them."

"I don't believe you…"

"Lydia…" He sighed. "The Inklings have lived a life of luxury for a hundred years… You talk about a few teenagers up there who you know already lived decent, free lives, who were briefly used to serve a purpose, but… the teenagers down here? They've had no chance to live those free lives. They live one where things like juice are a luxury. And most of them, of course, are forced to train for the military or some other designated task because otherwise, we could lose everything that we have. All because the Inklings forced us down here and then took all the Zapfish energy for themselves… tell me… how is that fair in the slightest?"

She didn't respond. It still didn't feel right, but… she also couldn't think of a counter-argument.

"Hm…" He nodded. "You see, no one ever has an answer to that question… at least, never a smart one. It's how I know for sure that I'm right."

"But…" She then remembered. "…The crystals… you found new energy…" She looked up at him. "Why are the Zapfish even still a factor?"

"Because the crystals are, how do I call it… the second coming. A gift from God… that will ultimately set our world right. That's how I view it, anyway… other people don't quite see it in such a way, but again, they're not so smart. I believe that the galaxy saw how unfairly we've been treated, or, more like, it knew how things are going to play out, and it sent us those crystals for the sake of balance. I mean… what else would they be for? To give the Inklings a more advanced society? No… because the galaxy gave them to us, not to them."

"...The galaxy didn't give anything to you… not… not intentionally, at least…"

"Is that what you think?" He smirked. "The way they were just… handed to us… it was too beautiful. Too perfect. It's poetic. Like a nicely-wrapped present."

She sighed. "...Yet, in every wrapped present, could be hidden a bomb…"

"That's true, that's true… but the bomb is only hazardous if you don't know how to handle it. If you do… it becomes a weapon." He led her into another room. "Admittedly, you're onto something. Because it did take us time to harness this energy… we had accidents, even. But you're missing my point, these crystals… literally fell from the sky. A whole heap of them. We don't know how long ago, we don't know exactly how it happened, it was possibly before even the Humans came to be. But they came from the stars, they struck the Earth, and they embedded themselves deep into our crust. Not too far from we're standing at this very moment. And like a plant… they rooted themselves within our dirt, to receive new life."

She stared at him, unable to believe it. She chuckled. "…That's absurd…"

"You may laugh now… but…" He led her over toward the table-like container, where he opened up the lid, pulling out one of the beautiful green crystals. "…They're real… they can be touched. And it's no illusion, like in the Subgrid… this…" He held it toward her. "This is true power…"

She stared into its glow, actually a bit mesmerized. It… was very beautiful, in a haunting, other-worldly kind of way.

He chuckled. "Stare at it for as long as you like… it somehow only gets prettier the more you look at it. It makes it more amazing that these crystals we do have are, well… only a small piece of the puzzle."

She shook her head. "...Is the power not… enough for you?"

"Admittedly…" He held it up, shrugging. "…No… This is a batch of crystals that was separated from its true home, from causes unknown… so they're incomplete. It's why we had a team journey to Axcia itself to tap into the root of this energy. Then…" He nodded. "We really will be gods."

"So that you can overthrow the Inklings…"

He shook his head. "I already told you, this will create a new world, free of suffering. It will… be the way the world was meant to be. Before the Inklings ruined it for us. I said we're fighting the same war we've always been fighting, yes… but this…" He stared into the crystal. "This was the turning point…"

She looked down. Was… he telling the truth now? Was… that really possible?

He stared at her. "…I'm getting somewhere with you… I can tell."

She didn't respond, deep in thought.

"It's ok to admit that you and the Splatoon have been wrong…" He set the crystal down, and instead reached to cup her cheek. She looked at him as he smiled at her. "We're not the bad guys…"

A wave of comfort washed over her. Maybe… he was right… but… but…

She suddenly stepped away from him. She couldn't bite this bait, not while she still didn't know where her friends were. She shook her head. "…No…"

He stared back at her as he lowered his hand, disappointed.

She stared directly into his eyes, intensely. "…If you're telling the truth, then… let my friends go. Let me see them."

He sighed. "I can't do that for you right now, Lydia…"

"And why not?"

Gideon just shrugged slightly, trying to give her a comforting smile, but it didn't work. She turned her head and forced herself to walk out, holding onto tables to hold herself up as she made her way out of the room. Gideon watched her, but otherwise didn't move, sighing.

The Mine

Minecarts continued along their designated rails as at this point, several Octarians had converged upon the cavern where the larger crystals resided, searching anywhere they could for the lost Splatoon agents. The masked Octolings would individually clear multiple tunnels, updating each other via their earpieces. Even the Octotroopers were fully dedicated to the search.

But of course, this was far from the first rodeo for both Jessica and Dylan. Using a combination of their fists and the Octo Shot Jessica had acquired, they had been spending their time stealthily taking out any Octarians that came their way, either splatting them or grabbing them and suffocating them until they were down. Dylan acquired one of their Octo Shots as well before they pressed on.

The cavern, however, was vast, very much like a maze, and neither of them had any idea of where to go from here, even as they looked around. The both of them felt the anxiety that this place gave them, but at the same time they both knew they had to stay calm.

Eventually, the two of them came across a wooden track on which a few of the minecarts were coming from. Jessica looked around, making sure there were no Octarians nearby before she gave Dylan a nod. Dylan came up, and Jessica used her hands to boost him up onto the track, before grabbing onto his hand and allowing herself to be pulled up. Standing up straight, she pointed the Octo Shot's light down the tunnel where the minecarts were coming from, deeper into the mine, which wasn't as well-lit by the crystals.

She nodded. "…This way might bring us some luck. Come on."

Dylan watched his back as they snuck along the edge of the platform, avoiding the path of the minecarts that slid past them, as they started their trek away from the bulk of the cavern.

Unfortunately, they didn't make it far before a light was suddenly shone down on them. They looked up as an Octoling, visible through a hole near the ceiling that led to another tunnel, pointed her gun down at them. "I got them!" She announced. "They're on the mine tracks!"

Jessica aimed up and fired at her, missing her shot, before she was forced to dodge her retaliating gunfire and then an incoming minecart. Waiting for an opening, Dylan turned to fire at her as well, this time splatting her, before she conjoined with Jessica once again to continue running down the tracks. "Come on!"

They ran down as far as they could, dodging more minecarts along the way, but their path was soon cut off. More Octarians were coming down from the other end of the tunnel, pointing their lights toward them. "No move!" An Octotrooper shouted.

Jessica halted. "Shit…" She looked around, thinking about their options. They only had so much room to run, she could see that much.

The line of Octarians only got closer, and Dylan pointed his own gun forward. "Jess, we've gotta turn back…"

"...Yeah…" She had only one idea. "Get on the minecarts."

"What?"

"Get on the-" She suddenly shoved him into the path of an upcoming one.

Dylan screamed as the cart struck him and he toppled forward, landing inside. He squirmed as he struggled to get back up, completely shocked. "What the FUCK!? WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Jessica fired at the Octarians, and then just barely dodged their returning fire as she grabbed the next minecart, swiftly pulling herself into it. The Octarians kept firing at them in vain as the minecarts travelled down the rest of the wooden track. It wasn't long at all before the wooden tracks ended, and the carts then split off onto their own rails.

"They're on the minecarts." One Octoling said into her earpiece as they walked forward.

Dylan finally got back onto his feet as he gripped the cart ledge. "WHAT THE FUCK, THREE!?"

"We're gonna get outta here!" Jessica returned. "Just stay alive!"

He looked around as they then heard Octarian gunfire all around them. All sort of Octarians were now shooting at them from the surrounding tunnels. The agents fired back at them to their best ability, but things were only about to get crazier.

Dylan looked ahead as he noticed that his particular rail was about to sharply fall downward. "…Oh, no… no, no, no!" He could only watch as he was sent careening down the rail, toward the lower level of the cavern.

Jessica's rail remained on the upper path, but she kept her cool as she let the rail take her wherever, shooting back at any Octarians that fired at her. She looked around, seeing that there were more pursuing Octarians that had grabbed their own minecart rides, and were using them to follow as closely as they could, raining down ink toward them. It was a bumpy ride for both of the agents as they both dodged gunfire, fired back when they could, generally made an effort to not fall off the carts, and even briefly morphed to their Squid-forms to dodge incoming crystals or other rocks that stood just above the minecart paths.

Dylan looked up, able to see Jessica's cart from a distance. "You ok!?" He shouted.

"I'm ok!" She shouted back. She then looked behind her, seeing that there was now a legion of Octobombers that had directly entered the cavern, giving chase. "Oh, shit." She quickly aimed and fired at them.

The ride was too hectic for them to land most of their shots on each other, but eventually, after a couple of the Bombers were splatted, one of them managed to land a bomb directly in her cart. Jessica gasped, but she otherwise didn't hesitate in transforming and then leaping out of the cart. The bomb detonated, knocking the cart off the tracks and into the crystal field below.

Jessica careened into the minecart behind her, and just barely managed to transform back in time to grab it. The Octotrooper on board immediately attempted to aim down at her, but she was swift, and instead aimed up to splat him first. The cart suddenly tilted under her weight, and she briefly screamed before she mustered her strength to pull herself up before it could collapse entirely.

Straightening herself, she again looked behind her as the remaining Octobombers backed off, changing tactics. She only had a moment to breathe before a larger Octostriker came into view, and her eyes widened.

Dylan again looked up, able to see her predicament. "Jessica!?"

Jessica just fired at the Striker as best as she could, holding off its attack for as long as she could. But of course, there was only so much she could do before the Striker managed to land a devastating shot on the tracks ahead of her, and she could only look on in horror as the tracks began to collapse. She morphed to her Squid-form once again as the cart careened off the track to the side, colliding with the wall before it too collapsed into a tunnel below them.

"JESSICA!" Dylan shouted.

Jessica, still in her Squid-form, was rendered unconscious by the crash, but she quickly came to, groaning as she transformed back to her humanoid form, desperately collapsing out of the cart. She fell onto the ground, whimpering in pain to herself.

"JESSICA!" Dylan kept shouted as his cart soon turned down another direction, sending him down another part of the cavern to who knows where. His screams echoed down the tunnels as he disappeared.

Jessica, left on her own, slowly started to get up, mustering her strength to get on her knees. But this time, the Octarians were faster. She quickly found herself surrounded as Octarians of different shapes and sizes came to hold her at gunpoint, and she looked around at them, slowly lifting herself up.

A masked Octoling grabbed her gun, throwing it aside. "Nowhere left to go, Agent 3."

She sighed. With no other choice, she simply got herself onto her knees, before she slowly held her hands up and behind her head. She watched as the Octoling then turned her gun and hit her with it, and everything went blank.

The Ray

The lights and colors of the galaxy surrounded Marina's ship as it drifted through the cosmos, back in the general direction of Axcia. The Splatoon agents on board were all triple-checking all of the Ray's functions now that they were once again operating, while now also running much more aggressive scans for the Octarians and any signals they might've been sending out.

"All systems are operational!" Callie exclaimed as she climbed back into the cockpit.

"Still no signs of the Octarians, though." Pearl replied as she looked over all of her screens.

Marie, at this point, was just sitting in her chair, occasionally looking out the window at the many celestial bodies that surrounded them.

Marina came in with canned food for everyone, handing some to Marie last as she took the seat next to her.

"Thanks…" Marie told her as she took it.

"Welcome." She opened her own.

As they both leaned back to eat, Marie gave another glance out the window, which Marina noticed.

"...What're you thinking about?" Marina asked.

"What we're going to do next…" She replied.

She chuckled. "Well, you can relax a little for now, because while we can't trace the Octarians, there's not much we can do."

"...So when we do trace them… how do you think we're gonna… do this?" She looked at her. "How are we gonna confront them?"

She paused, having to take a moment to swallow the food in her mouth. "Aren't… you the one who calls those types of shots?"

"And with that power, I almost called this mission off entirely."

"You… you didn't know…"

"But I should've. Because you gave the warnings, you were right about everything, and… I didn't listen. Not well enough, at least." She sighed. They had already opened up to each other somewhat in the Safe Zone while they were about to be experimented on, so now… she felt comfortable enough to do it again. She looked at her. "…I don't really know what I'm doing, Marina… I don't know… how to confront this."

"...We'll figure it out. Sure, the Octarians have more strength to them then I had predicted, but, I did come prepared."

"Yeah. You came prepared. I'm along for the ride. You're by far the smartest one here, you equipped us and this whole ship with all the necessary tools to fight these guys, while I, I couldn't even…" She trailed off and paused again. She sighed. "…You should be calling the shots from now on."

She held her hand forward. "Hold on, now, Cap'n Cuttlefish gave the task to you-"

"And now I am passing it along to you." She nodded. "You call the shots. This entire mission is yours to decide."

Marina hesitated a few moments. "…You really think I could… command three agents? To keep them all safe?"

"Well, are you up to it for the sake of the mission?"

"Of course I am."

"Then yes. You call the shots. I won't interfere with your decision-making anymore."

She sighed. Another moment passed as she hesitated, but she ultimately nodded. "…Ok."

Marie nodded in return, leaning back in her seat. "…So… what's our plan, then, boss?"

Marina turned to glance out the window herself. "Well… we'll see what move the Octarians make next. Because I can bet you that they'll make it soon."

The Safe Zone

Of course, Marina was once again very right. The Octarians' new plan was already in motion.

Onboard the Safe Zone station, the many different alien species had returned to their own business, having already moved on from the Splatoon's visit and Shadow's attack. In particular, the elephant-like scientist aliens in the massive facility floor had continued along with their many experiments, just like any other day here in the station. But today, their work was cut off as a sudden disaster struck.

One by one, multiple large explosions ran through the facility, taking out several of the scientists at once. The survivors were, of course, quickly sent into a scramble as they rushed for cover, but the attack was far too sudden for them to otherwise defend themselves. With no idea what the cause even was, many of them were soon wiped out as the entire floor was slowly decimated by explosion after explosion, shattering the lab windows, collapsing some of the stairs, and wounding several other aliens.

Once the scene calmed down, the place was left in a fiery aftermath, with the wounded left on the floor, surrounded by many corpses of their brethren and friends. One particular scientist was crawling toward the nearest safe place it could think of, its legs blown off in the carnage. It paused and slowly looked up as it was approached by the familiar, masked humanoid. It growled in both anger and fear at her.

Shadow stood over it, drawing the blade from her glove. She nodded at it. "You remember what I did to those other two guys?"

It moaned and tried crawling away again, but was left screaming as she leaned forward and plunged the blade into it.