Coming up on the palace's front gates Walter and Sina are no where to be found "things are looking worse hopefully they made it out" thinking to myself looking over the battle-scarred remains of the once formidable fortress "and you're sure you saw more UFOs?" I ask Persephonie "there has to be I saw some fighting at the palace when I ran ahead then a bunch of UFOs launched off while those fighting at the gates retreated inside followed by the enemy that was was when I came rushing back" Persephonie explained
"I see lets be on our toes then they may be hiding" heading inside the palace with weapons drawn we make our way towards the UFO landing pad. Walking through the main hall the throne room is straight ahead where the UFOs are we begin to notice that more of the interior is covered in a metallic cyan ink "we're knee deep in enemy territory, Persephonie watch our backs, Camille watch for any sudden movements in the ink" I tell the group in hushed tone we take a more defensive position as we continue albeit slowly towards the throne room.
Small waves ripple throughout the metallic ink letting us know that we are entirely surrounded on all sides by Sanitized Octolings, looking for a distraction I throw a curling bomb towards a corner in the hall the instant my bomb touched their ink the Sanitized Octolings began following "their attracted to our ink lets move while their distracted" running ahead Persephonie inks a trail for us to swim before the Sanitized realized they've been tricked.
A sonorous scream echoes in the empty hall "looks like they've caught on!" Camille huffs throwing a disruptor behind us "they're gaining on us!" Ophelia cries out "just a little bit further" with the landing pad in view we push forward unbeknownst of the cruel trick we fell into.
we make it outside to the launch pad closing the rolling shutter gate behind seconds later the Sanitized Octolings slam into the fortified gates "that bought us some time..." I say between breaths we take this chance to recuperate as the banging of the doors begin to slow. "Alright now lets get out of her-" coming face to face with the destroyed UFOs it looks like they've been torn apart by hand rendering them completely unsalvageable
"those things are smarter than we anticipated cutting out escape options" Camille chimes in "there has to be something else we can use out here" Ophelia states examining the defunct crafts "hmm the basement of the palace is a ways away, but in there King Octavio does have his flying machine from his first fight with that Inkling 2 years ago I can get us there but that's going to require us to blast through the enemy outside the door" I explain "so we're stuck here until we come up with a plan, even with Bowie's strength its too many of them" Persephonie pouts kicking the UFO dislodging the fuel supply
"Persie you genius!" Ophelia exclaims "I am?" Persephonie questions "we don't need to fight them when we can blast them all in one go! Please get me the other fuel tanks and hand them to me we're making a bomb!" and with that we set out to strip the UFOs down to parts and hand them to Ophelia who quickly gets to work dismantling them further "the fuel is highly combustible under the right circumstances all it needs is an enclosed space, add a little heat, and a singular exist point! Bowie? Can you please make a small hole in this cannister for me? Just near the top is all I need" handing me the small object I pierce a small hole barely big enough to put the tip of my finger inside
"Thank you now for this to work I'm going to fill this with the fuel and I need someone to slide this in a way that leaves a trail as it travels out the door, from there all we need is a spark that can be made with some of the torn wiring that'll ignite the trail leading to the cannister hopefully when it blows it takes them all out, but if it doesn't we can clean up the rest" putting Ophelia's plan into motion it doesn't take much time for the makeshift bomb to be completed "just as a precaution I'm giving us Ink Armor incase the explosion is stronger than I anticipated, safety first don't want us going up in flames too!" with a slight giggle Ophelia activates Ink Armor
"alright I'm going to open the door get ready to slide the bomb under" I say "I'm ready with the spark" Camille says tapping the wires together producing a current Persephonie takes the bomb in hand "I'm ready open the door" and with that I lift the shutter open just enough for Persephonie to slide the payload under the door leaking fuel all the while as Camille puts the wires to work igniting the trail slamming the shutter shut and pushing against it bracing for impact "back away!" I yell before pushing against the force of the roaring explosion threatening to launch the door from its frame.
"good to know all that time in the Octobowling Alley paid off" with tiny hands placed firmly on her hips Persephonie strikes a triumphant pose "well then I suppose you weren't just shirking training, nicely done" ruffling the smallest sister's tentacles Camille affirms her skill "seems like it thinned the herd a bit lets cull the rest and make our way to the basement" grabbing our weapons we exit the landing pad anticipating a fight from the remaining Sanitized Octolings only to get a meager resistance from the gravely injured, so we quickly dispatch them and continue our way.
Taking lead we make our way to the center of the palace finding ourselves in the King's beloved rock garden now looking a worse for wear it seems it couldn't escape the fighting "give me a moment I just need to move a few things" sifting through smaller rocks before finally lifting the giant boulder in the middle of the garden showing a stone staircase "still remember where it is, whew I'm glad"
"that strength has many applications" Ophelia admires taking a discerning look as she walks around me "the brute strength to lift boulders, yet delicate enough to punch small holes in thin cannisters without crushing it! I MUST study this further!" poking and prodding my muscles Ophelia is ecstatic making me flush red getting a laugh out of the other two "that means she likes you" Camille explains to which Ophelia nods wanting to see more examples of my strength "alright that's enough ogling the path is clear lets head on down" setting the rock down we make our way into a passageway which lights up from pressure pads on the floor.
Opening up to a massive room different sized mecha lined the walls alongside numerous blackboards with faded chalk designs "this place doesn't get any less impressive whenever I come down here" I say "when does he have the time to do all this?" Ophelia asks "even to this day I'm not sure his schedule is always packed between his kingly duties and his music gigs I don't think he ever slept" I reply "that would explain the bags under his eyes" Camille adds "and the grumpy attitude bleugh" mimicking the face of the King we all laugh
Walking towards the back of the basement one final light sparks to life showing off the Octobot King in all its former glory "seems like he was in the middle of repairs" Ophelia speaks up perusing over the notes on a nearby desk "these look like schematics for potential upgrades that eventually became the Octobot 2" reading over the loose papers "let's see if this works" hopping into the front seat Persephonie hits the ignition and the Octobot King hums to life hovering slightly above the ground before thudding to the ground in exhaustion
"dammit" Persephonie curses "let me take a look at it, excuse me Bowie can you bring it out for me please?" looking at me with anticipation and I oblige "sure thing" and with a sharp exhale I lift the machine to bring out of its massive cubby hole "thank you, following his majesty's notes I should be able to finish the repairs. This may take a while so please get comfortable, and Bowie I'm going to need your help again moving it around so that I can get under it when the time comes" Ophelia asks in her gentle tone picking up a toolbox
"My strength is yours once again" standing at attention gets a small chuckle out of her "thank you, well then lets get to it!"
…
*Toiling away the hours Ophelia repairs the Octobot 1 I offer aid whenever she needs the mecha moved to another position. Persephonie and Camille keep watch over the entrance to the basement in case of an enemy attack, fortunately for us we were able to evade notice despite all the noise we made. Taking the relative downtime, we discuss what our next move is once reaching the surface*
Taking the initiate Camille speaks first "given that we didn't truly fit in with our peers I believe our best course of action is to take leave of Octarian Society and make it out in the world on our own" she states matter-of-factly "yeah, the higher ups didn't really like us that much called us 'failures' and 'inconclusive' for what we were made for and I say to hell with it! If we're not wanted then they won't miss us!" Persephonie exclaims
"it's true we were made to be the perfect soldier, but instead of each of us getting all the same traits we all received different aspects of Octavia so we were given menial tasks to stay out of the way." Ophelia says rolling from under the Octobot to speak her piece before rolling back under to finish working "I see using the chaos to fall through the cracks smart move, no one'll come looking for you…" the words leave my mouth but linger in my mind
"Exactly! We haven't thought where we would go, but anywhere is better but here" Persephonie says while sitting in the pilot seat of another prototype mech "what about you Bowie? What do you plan to do after reaching the surface?" Camille asks catching me off guard "I-I'm not sure really, all I really did was take orders and do what others told me and work with my team, although really we're more like associates really, outside of mandatory checkups and missions we don't really interact with each other"
"Really? But it always seemed that you guys are in sync each time you appeared together in public" Persephonie says "we've trained for team cohesion but that was the extent of us spending time together, outside of our shared heritage of being bio-clones of the Octoweapons we're complete strangers to each other"
Voicing the words that have been in the back of my mind since this whole ordeal started feels like a small weight has been lifted and feeling vulnerable "if it's okay with you 3 when we reach the surface can I-" before the words can leave my mouth Ophelia slides from under Octobot beaming "aaaaand DONE, oh! I'm sorry I interrupted you, were you saying something?" nearly dropping the machine I fumble to find my words "o-oh n-no I wasn't saying anything really" chiding myself for my sudden cowardice
"Finally! Let's blow this fish stand!" jumping from her resting place and vaulting onto the Octobot Persephonie can hardly contain her excitement "well I suppose it's time for us to go Pershephonie, would you do the honors?" Camille asks jumping in next to Persephonie who gladly punches the ignition and miraculously the mecha hovers shoulder height off the ground awaiting further control
"Well, I suppose it's time for us to go" Ophelia's gaze lingers on me for a brief moment before turning to get on the floating turntable "yeah time for us to go" I whisper her words swimming around in my head "Bowie! Is there a door we can fly out of?" Persephonie yells over the exhaust pulling me out of my introspection "yeah let me get it for you!" running to the far side of the basement I open the door to the flight deck Persephonie clumsily flies towards the open gate
"I think I'm getting the hang of it now! It uses full body controls!" she yells pulling up to me "then I'll leave it in your care!" hanging off the side of the ship "next stop… THE SURFACE!" with cheers from the sisters and flight (slightly) smoother we make our way out of the Palace all the while a look of apprehension crawls onto my face
"What am I going to do…"