For the first time in the history of the mollusc era, two fleets of landships clashed together in violent contest.

Rak held on tightly as Dunewalker's tracks collided with the opposing ship directly in front of them. The impact was more gentle than he would have imagined, but he expected neither ship's driver was eager to send themselves through their windshields.

On their right, the second column, led by a large, half-tracked landship called Outlander crashed more forcefully with their opposite. The landships behind them crawled to a stop, managing to avoid collisions harder than a love tap, and the respective troops on both sides began climbing out onto the ship's hulls.

Rak climbed up to the observation blister, peering around to take stock of the situation.

The corporation landships were starting to work their way along the flanks of the Scrapper's two column formation, sandwiching them in place. Meanwhile, Dunewalker's compliment of troops, a mix of his own Octarian warriors, many of which had served on coast guard ships; and Outlanders from the riverbanks and Crater's Edge, advanced along the top of Dunewalker's massive tracks.

The average Scrapper landship was smaller, older, and slower than their more modern opponents, but Rak had chosen his flagship well. Dunewalker's tracks stuck out ahead of the hull, ideal for helping her climb obstacles, and because Dunewalker was slightly taller than its opponent, the people assaulting from the ships directly ahead of them had only the tracks to climb up on to assault the ship, meaning he could defend the bow with only a handful of troops.

Joolea and Octanna emerged from the ship's hold, shouting orders, directing people where they needed to go and getting them moving to prevent overcrowding on the deck. They couldn't let it get too crowded or they'd get in one another's way.

Some were directed off of their ship to assist Outlander, who's height matched her opponent, creating a clash where the two sides met as they threatened each other.

Many of the Outlanders were armed with hunting spears. A few of the sailors they'd brought with them had harpoons to fight with or clubs they used to fight off salmonids from their boats. A few of their people, however, were using the gifts Representative Betanuss had brought with her on her plane, long spears she had called "pikes", apparently made based on the Ascendancy's experiences fighting the Grand Consortium.

The whole thing was a much more violent and bloody affair than boarding actions he'd done as a youngster. Ink weapons were quick and merciful by comparison. Unfortunately, they usually only worked on other cephalopods.

The corporation landships had now fully boxed them in, except for a gap at the rear of the their two columns. Boarding parties crashed together all along the sides of their formation, but again, Dunewalker's unconventional design and height afforded her defence. On her flank, the attackers had to climb to get onto the tracks, making it much easier to keep them at bay. Unfortunately, this didn't last long.

The crabs on the ship alongside them started going right up to the edge of their ship's hull and then crouching, allowing the crabs behind them to step on their backs and hop up instead of having to climb. This made it easier to fight against the various weapons being presented against them. They tried to grab the weapons with their claws and yank them away or pull the weapon's owner along with them to take them down, something Rak saw happen more than once, but the crabs were taking losses of their own.

Rak saw one crab pierced by no less than three weapons before they went down, another lost an eye, one was injured and slipped through the gap between the two landships to fall to the ground below. So far, Dunewalker was holding her own.

Outlander was facing urchins, who had tough, spiny shells, in some cases their spines were longer than the spears as they stiffened and unfurled them, crouching and crawling along to keep the majority of their bodies protected. Wary of the long spines, the defenders were slowly being driven back for fear of being skewered.

Similar situations were happening elsewhere. All along their two columns, the more cautious and less prepared splatlandian volunteers were being pushed back by the more well equipped and mentally prepared professionals of the Scrap Corporations. The initial aggression and desire they had to get back at their tormentors had faded when met with the reality of combat.

It was hard to blame them. Even his warriors mostly acted in a police role, keeping the peace, handling bar brawls, nothing like actual war. That was something nobody was prepared for. That said, they weren't breaking, they were holding together and he saw more than a few corporate security go down. The avalanche of enemy bodies he had imagined slamming into their troops hadn't occurred.

Still, we have to do something to encourage them. They need an example. As much as he wanted that to be him, he had to keep his head down for now. If the Scrap Corporations found out where he was they would single Dunewalker out and try to capture him, an outcome that would destroy morale. Besides, he was over a hundred now, well past the age he should be doing this, and his wives were the same, though they'd been no less capable in their day.

Maiya, if you're going to do something, now would be a good time.

"They're holding together better than I expected."

Pritor nodded. He hadn't expected the Splatlandians to collapse, per say, but he had expected them to cave more easily than this when faced with battle and death for the first time.

He could understand the Outlanders holding their own. They faced death in its various forms every day, it was a part of life for them, and the offences of the Scrap Corporations more personal, but for the people from Splatsville, things were different. For them, the offences were more impersonal, the offences less direct, and they were less accustomed to death. They formed the majority of the people fighting on the tops of those landships, and the bolder Outlanders were too spread out among them to form a concentrated force.

"I suspect the abundance of those long, spear weapons to be one of the reasons they haven't collapsed. It's forcing our people to be cautious and more careful. That's fine though. No sense our people getting killed unnecessarily. Time is on our side, we should take advantage of that."

"Should we ask them to surrender?" His adjutant asked. "It might not work but it may lower their morale."

"It's not a bad idea," he agreed. He was about to do exactly that when he noticed the stolen landship appear in the view of the mast camera monitor he was looking at.

"Now what are they up to?"

They had parked next to one of the Omnicorp Salvage landships, which was doubled up with another, their combined troops were trying to fight their way across one of the Scrapper landships in the middle of the formation. He could see three figures on the stolen landship's hull, and then two of them jumped onto the Omnicorp landship's back.

With the noise of idling engines and battle going on, nobody on the ship noticed the inklings' presence until two of the anemones were speared from behind. After that, it was like a pair of hungry sharks had been dropped into an aquarium full of herring.

The inkling with the longer weapon was a tornado of destruction, stabbing, slashing, or crushing with her weapon. In just a few minutes, she had a pile of bodies around her and was working her way deeper into the anemones like a reaper through a grain field.

The other inkling was no slouch either, managing to hit several surprised and panicking guards with her shorter hunting spear.

The anemones tried to get into position to oppose the two inklings, but the sudden attack caused a brief panic among them that rippled through to the front ranks, creating a brief disturbance. The distraction was enough to let the more aggressive splatlandians in front of them strike out, injuring or felling yet more anemones.

The two inklings were gradually getting surrounded and forced back toward the edge, but neither looked worried, and they left more dead as they retreated. Eventually, they were forced back to their landship, which promptly drove away.

"What was that?"

Pritor bubbled angrily. "That has to be someone from the Ascendancy, maybe some kind of advisor. It would explain those new weapons too."

His adjutant grunted. "What do we do?"

Pritor examined the part of the battlefield the two inklings had rampaged through. Over a score of bodies lay there, more were wounded and being carefully brought back inside the landship.

"Watch them. Let's see if we can trap them next time."

"Sir!" The communications officer called out to him. "Force 2 has engaged the Scrapper's third column but they've split into two divisions."

Two landships won't be enough to get through to the vault. It wouldn't be the end of the world if they got past. He wouldn't tell Force 2 that though.

"Tell them to do their best."

"Aye, Sir."

"Now, let's try and broadcast that surrender offer."

Neo followed Frye and Maiya back into the landship's interior. It was a relief to be out of the heat, but the enclosed space highlighted the new and terrible scents the other two inklings had brought in with them.

The Frye that staggered into the wheelhouse was not the eager and upbeat Frye that had left with Maiya earlier; this Frye was stunned, shaken, and bewildered.

Shiver and Big Man both gaped when they walked in. Both girls had been spattered with blood and the stench of death clung to their clothes.

Neo hadn't actually seen what happened but even over the noise of fighting and rumbling engines she'd heard the screams and cries of the anemones. Remembering how Maiya had swept through the guards at the vault like an avatar of death, she could imagine the carnage.

Shiver stood up from her chair, mouth agape. "Frye! Are you okay?"

Frye's head jerked up, as if awakening from a daydream. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just… a little out of breath is all."

Maiya took Frye by the shoulders and sat her down in the sensor operator's chair. "Take a minute to collect yourself," she said, her voice firm but gentle. "You did well."

Frye didn't meet her eyes, she just nodded numbly, her lips slightly parted.

Maiya left her and went to speak to Big Man about where they should go next. Shiver went to Frye's side, kneeling next to her and holding her hand.

"Frye? Hey, Frye, I'm here."

Frye's eyes refocused and she looked at Shiver. "Oh… hey Shiver. You doing okay?"

Neo heard the sound of Shiver's beak clacking together. "You're asking me that? You're the one who looks messed up. What happened?"

Frye shook her head, mantle flashing red. "Nothing, really. It's just… I've never been in a fight like that before."

"I'm pretty sure nobody here has," Tahlm remarked from his place on the back of the captain's chair. "I can't really tell what's happening but it looks like everyone's still holding on."

"All the more reason we have to keep going." Maiya moved from behind Big Man's chair back towards the rear of the bridge. Shiver gave her a glare but Maiya ignored it and looked at Frye. "Are you able to go out again?"

Frye took a few deep breaths and flashed green. "Yeah, let's go."

She stood up but Shiver grabbed her arm. "Fyre…"

Frye smiled at her and gently removed her hand. "I'm fine, Shiver, really. I just needed a sec to get my wits back."

"It's common," Maiya said. "Happens to most people after their first engagement. Best thing to do is not think about it and focus on the battle. You can cry yourself to sleep later."

Shiver scowled. "Is that supposed to be comforting?"

"It's supposed to be the truth. Would you rather I lied?"

Shiver twitched. Neo wondered if Maiya had hit a nerve.

Frye grimaced then gently pushed Maiya back towards the roof hatch. Neo followed, leaving Shiver staring at their backs.

The wind whipped at them as the landship drove to the opposite side of the battlefield, working its way around the formation. Big Man was being gentle.

Maiya and Frye held onto their weapons; Neo clung to the landship's mast. She was really missing having two arms. She would be glad when her other one grew back. She wondered if Maiya would have also had her participate in the fighting if she still had both arms. Would she even be able to fight alongside these two?

A week ago, she would have said yes, absolutely, but now she wasn't so sure, or even if she would have wanted to.

"People of the Spatlands, there is no need to fight. This is a battle you cannot win. Surrender and you will be treated fairly. You will be able to return to your homes and loved ones, something all too many of you already will never do again. Don't make this more painful for everyone. Nobody gains anything from this except the black pits."

Dunewalker's captain snorted, his mantle turning a rancid brown at the Corporation's declaration. "As if anyone would believe that after what happened to Neo."

Rak grimaced. "Even if they don't believe it, it may spread doubt, and doubt is deadly on a battlefield. I think I should head out there now."

The captain frowned. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"I know it isn't, but sometimes you have to use an idea that's not good because it's better than the alternative. Anyone afraid of taking risks during battle might as well not show up. If our people see me, knowing what a risk that is, they might think the situation is as bad as it looks.

He grinned at the Captain's dubious expression. "Don't worry, this old octo can still handle himself and my wives are no slouch either. "

"There he is," the adjutant murmured. "Finally coming out of his hole."

Pritor clacked his claw, watching as Balt Ralok emerged through the roof hatch on the landship directly in front of his own. "A commander must keep the troops inspired to fight on. My concern is that he might end up accidentally getting killed."

"Do you think he would prefer death over capture?"

Pritor tapped his claws together thoughtfully, then he clicked his mandibles in annoyance. "He might, he just might."

He took over the camera controls and zoomed out to see the whole battlefield again. With the exception of the anemones that had been blindsided earlier, their people were either holding their ground or advancing slowly. This was going to be a long fight. He wasn't able to use the full strength of his numbers to help carry the battle either. He was forced to admit he had underestimated his opponent's resolve and ingenuity.

One landship in the enemy's second column was using their onboard crane as a weapon, swinging the heavy duty hook back and forth to keep part of the deck clear and more than a few unfortunate crabs got caught by it. Then the increasingly irritating stolen landship returned, attacking the ship right next to his.

He winced as the inkling with the longer pole weapon cracked an urchin's head shell open with an overhead swing. His furious comrades attacked her but she was too quick, stabbing at them with her weapon or swinging it laterally to catch them in their unprotected sides. The other responding urchins were more mindful and hunkered down into their shells to crawl towards them, only for one after another to get speared or cut.

"Are the landships behind us empty?" He asked.

"There's nobody on top but the crews are still there," his adjutant replied.

"Send them to keep that small one busy. They might not catch it but they might get them to make a mistake. If we can stop them from hitting us from behind, that will be good enough."

A cry came out from one of the observers. "Sir, we've captured one of the ships! The one next to their flagship!"

Pritor panned the camera and saw that the people defending the half-tracked ship were falling back, climbing up onto Balt Ralok's flagship's tracks to get away or reversing onto the ship behind it, but there wasn't enough room so they were bumping into them and causing a disruption. That could change but for now he had a little room to move people about.

He panned the camera back to the two inklings fighting the urchins. Over a dozen of them lay inert in pools of their own gore and the inklings were advancing on the rest.

"Send some people on our ship over to support them. They're not doing much here for the moment, but we should watch for the possibility of them swarming us out of desperation. We have some momentum now, let's use it."

"They're coming after us!" Tiyes cried, pointing at the hostile landship moving out of position to block their escape.

"Big Man, get us out of here!" Shiver yelled.

"Ay! But Frye and Maiya!"

"If Maiya's half as good as she thinks she is they'll be fine, now move!"

Big Man hurriedly shoved Rebel into reverse and backed away quickly. Shiver inhaled sharply when another landship appeared behind them and Big Man had to swerve around it, barely avoiding a collision.

Neo came down a moment later. "Hey, wait, we left Maiya and Frye behind!"

"I know," Shiver grated. "We'll have to lose these two and try to go back for them."

"I don't think we're going to lose them," Big Man said. "We might be able to outrun them but not if we have to stay close to everyone else."

"He's right," Tiyes agreed. "We don't have enough room to get to our top speed. All they have to do is force us to keep moving."

"We have to do something!" Neo cried and looked desperately at Shiver. "There has to be something we can do."

Shiver fanned herself, thinking. They did have options but all of them were risky, but then, profit often required risk, and no matter how much you tried to mitigate it, you couldn't eliminate it completely. Often, the riskiest approach, was trying something different.

"There is," she said. "The question is, are you brave enough to do it?"

Neo bit her lip, her hand unconsciously clutching her left side. Then, Lil' Buddy peeked out of her bag and chirped, slapping a fin against his side.

Neo glanced back at him then looked at Tahlm who gave her a thumbs up. "You can do it, Neo."

Neo sighed, then her mantle turned dark orange and she looked at Shiver with determination. "Okay, what do I do?"

Rak knew it had probably gone against the grain, but nobody disobeyed his order to leave Outlander and retreat to Dunewalker and Grain Glider – the ship directly behind Outlander.

Dunewalker was easier to defend while Grain Glider, although slightly shorter than Outlander was wider, making it a little easier to hold against attacks from the narrower ship.

He spotted Maiya and Frye on the back of the landship opposing Outlander from the front, laying into the defending urchins in a brutal display of violence. Frye was more cautious, poking out with her spear whenever she saw an opening. She seemed to be aiming to injure rather than kill. Maiya, meanwhile, was an avatar of carnage, cracking through the urchin's defences, resulting in crippling injuries or straight up killing them.

One urchin, contrary to their general nature, rushed at her, head bent forward. Maiya swung her weapon, knocking him down and snapping off some of his hardened spines like tree branches. She picked one of the fallen spines up and used to to spear the fallen urchin through the eye. He jerked once then died. It was a brutal and cruel way to kill someone, yet he found it eerily familiar.

Just as that urchin was finished off and panic started to spread among the rest, a score of crabs from the ship directly in front of Dunewalker charged onto the ship next to it, straight at Maiya and Frye.

Abruptly, Shiver's landship raced away without them, and he quickly realized why. The landship behind the one Maiya and Frye were on was moving to pin them in. They barely avoided the landship coming at them from along the outside of the battle too. As relieved as he was to see that, Maiya and Frye were now trapped.

Frye looked uncertain of what to do but Maiya faced the crabs fearlessly. She brought her weapon up then down again atop one of the crab's heads. The top exploded in a burst of chitin and gore but the other crabs took little notice.

Maiya then swept the legs out from under another crab and stabbed at the next. The stabbed crab managed to grasp her weapon, holding it in place and preventing her from using it. But Maiya simply let the weapon go, jumping up and over the crab to land on its back then pulled a weapon from her own back and brought it down on his head.

Rak couldn't see what the weapon was, it was a blur in Maiya's hands, about an arm-length long. It cracked against the crabs with brutal efficiency, and once half a dozen of them lay dead around her, they backed away.

Frye managed to bring down one crab herself then returned to Maiya's side. More crabs charged over to support their brethren and Rak saw an opportunity he'd been looking for.

Many of the people around him weren't actually doing anything other than waiting for their turn to fight. He had idle bodies and he intended to use them.

He grabbed Joolea. "Take as many people as you can and charge straight off the bow."

She stared at him then looked around them. "Are you sure? They could just as easily push us back."

"But we can retreat easier than they can. We need to keep them off balance."

She nodded then carried out his instructions.

It took her only minutes to get the people she needed. There was less fear now. Nobody was more ready to stand in the line than before, but sometimes the anticipation of waiting your turn was worse because you had time to think.

Joolea took her people to Dunewalker's bow. It was too far away from the bow of the opposing landship for crabs to cross, but not for inklings and octolings.

It was quite a leap, but with Joolea in the lead nobody behind her hesitated. The sudden attack took the crabs by surprise, and Joolea's assault force let out a fierce cry as they slammed into their vulnerable sides.

Those defending the leading edge of Dunewalker's tracks soon followed suit, hitting the crabs from two angles on either flank and forced all of them to the landship's rear deck.

Some guarding Dunewalker's flanks must have noticed what happened because they too let out a fierce cry and began fighting back more fiercely against the crabs on their port side and the urchins on their starboard side atop Outlander, and it began to spread to the others.

Rak sighed with relief, glad that some of his people had found their fighting spirit. Joolea's élan had been legendary during the war. He was glad to see it still had the same effect more than a century later. At her age though, she was going to feel the effects of that jump for days.

Things stabilized for the moment, he looked around to try and find Shiver's landship. Where had she gone?

Neo clung tightly to Rebel's sensor mast as it raced across the desert. They were several kilometres from the main fight now and they could no longer hear the sounds of battle. Up ahead, however, they were nearing another one.

The third column of the Scrapper's fleet was facing off against the six landships Rebel had encountered coming from the dig site. Both had split into two groups. The Scrappers were trying to close to fight, while the corporate landships were trying to avoid them. If Shiver's plan worked though, that was about to change.

Big Man moved ahead of one of the two groups of corporate landships, and allowed it to catch up. They seemed uncertain how to react. That hesitation was going to cost them.

"Let's go."

Shiver and Neo both transformed then superjumped onto the lead landship. It was as far as Neo had ever jumped but she managed to land safely.

Shiver reformed mid-air and used her tri-stringer to coat the windshield of the landship in ink before landing gracefully next to her.

Neo changed her colour to match Shiver's then looked around. "There!"

Neo found the topside hatch and managed to pry it open. Neo thought it a bit foolish that they had left their hatches unlocked in a battle all about boarding actions, but then again, they were probably intending to use it themselves.

Lil' Buddy hopped down to check for enemies, then immediately jumped back up as an angry urchin popped up, his head of sharp spines wriggling angrily.

Shiver changed the grip on her stringer and stabbed it down on the urchin's head between the spines. It didn't penetrate but it did force him to fall back inside.

Neo looked past Shiver as the landship approached a slow moving Rebel.

"Here it comes!"

Neo and Shiver grabbed onto the handholds either side of the hatch and the landship lurched beneath them. The sound of crunching metal was painful but very soon the landship came to an abrupt stop.

Yells came from inside the landship and the urchin once again tried to climb out.

Shiver stabbed down with her stringer but while it probably hurt the urchin's neck it didn't stop him.

Neo brandished her own weapon, a large wrench from Rebel's maintenance locker. It was too short to let her hit the urchin's head without getting in range of his spines, but when he bright his arm up onto the deck to help himself climb up, Neo brought her wrench down upon it.

The urchin let out a shrill scream and fell back into the hole. A string of what were probably urchin curses followed from those inside.

Around them, the two trailing corporate landships faltered. They'd come to a stop as their leader had, only to realize that their leader had been boarded and remembered that the Scrapper landships were still chasing them.

They floundered, trying to get around the halted landship and keep moving but the two landships that had been chasing them had already caught up. Had the latter needed to stop to conduct a boarding action, the former might have gotten away, but inklings and octolings didn't have such limitations.

Neo watched as cephalopods arched across the distance between the moving landships, landing on their tops and forcing their way inside. One of them drew near and stopped next to them, disgorging another boarding party, this one led by Rimar Onaga himself.

"Hello, Shiver," he greeted. "You kids trying to take a whole ship by yourselves?"

Shiver replied with just a hint of a smile, "no, just slowing it down for you."

"Ha ha, sorry, afraid I'm not quite as spry as I used to be. Do us a favour and drop some ink down there for us, would you?"

Everyone changed to match Shiver's colour as the octoling obeyed, firing a charged stringer shot down the hatch, eliciting surprised yelps and more curses.

"Go!"

Rimar switched to squid form and the rest did the same, following him down into the depths. The urchins bared their spines but it did no good. The inklings burst out of the ink underneath them, jabbing hunting spears up into their soft bodies. Some hunkered down, crouching to prevent them from getting under their protective shells only for the inklings to shoot ink onto the walls and use squid form to get around them.

Neo realized that these must be Rimar's handpicked Onaga warriors. They fought with a confidence and ferocity she hadn't seen among the fighters of the other two columns, except for Maiya and maybe Frye.

As the fight continued within, Neo checked around them, seeing the other ships's boarding parties also managing to get inside, though with more caution than Rimar had shown. In the distance, she could see the other half of the third column giving up chasing the other corporation landships and were now coming to aid them.

"These ships don't seem as full as the others when it comes to soldiers," Shiver observed as she listened to the fighting.

Neo flashed green. "Yeah, I guess they had to leave some at the dig site."

Shiver nodded thoughtfully. "Do me a favour and go check on the others. I'll stand guard here."

Neo nodded and pointed at Lil' Buddy. "You stay here and help her, okay?"

He let out a confident growl and Neo couldn't help but smile. Nothing ever seemed to scare him. She wished she could be like him sometimes.

She returned to the front of the landship and peered down, grimacing. Rebel's rear deck had been crushed forward by the impact of the two landships colliding. The actual body looked okay but that deck was going to have to be completely replaced.

She hopped down and went inside, glad the rear door hadn't been bent. She went to the bridge and found Tahlm, Tiyes, and Big Man all intact.

"Everything okay?" Big Man asked.

Neo gave him a thumbs up. "Everything worked ou, perfectly."

Big Man sighed in relief, sagging in his chair. "I hope we don't have to do that again. That was scary."

Neo chuckled and gave him a pat on the back. "That just makes you the bravest manta I know."

Big Man blinked then gave her a beaming smile when he realized she actually meant it. "Yeah… thanks."

"You seem happy," Tiyes observed. "This another thing from the stories you wanted to do?"

Neo looked at him and thought. She did feel pretty happy, now that he mentioned it. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, like the air was suddenly clear and she could breathe easily again.

Because I'm not afraid anymore. She realized. She wasn't afraid to fight again, at least, not they way she had been before. She'd done it, without an arm. She'd gone back, made a difference. She'd acted like a hero.

She smiled back at him. "Maybe. I'll feel better when this whole fight is over."

"Me too," Big Man agreed. "Let's just hope it ends well."

Pritor tried not to curse lest it reveal how tense he felt. He had anticipated the possibility they might counterattack his own ship but he hadn't expected it to be nearly as effective as it had been, and it was mostly because of those two inklings. They had killed more than a score of his crabs between them and occupied more than twice that many before they'd finally retreated by jumping off the landship and onto the sandy ground below.

At least the stolen landship had been driven off. He hadn't seen it for a while. He had also just managed to force the Splatlandians off his ship and back onto theirs with a desperate counter charge.

Overall, though, the battle still hung in the balance. They'd been fighting for over an hour, everyone was getting tired with the heat and exertion of battle. The inklings and octolings would be suffering more than his crabs, but the anemones would be in even worse shape. He still had numbers on his side but he'd been forced to commit all of them to prevent the Splatlandians from getting confident again. Both sides had committed everything now. It all came down to endurance.

"This battle will be decided within the hour," he said.

His adjutant nodded grimly. "We're winning, but not decisively. Another upset could tip the balance."

That made Pritor think of something. "What's the status of Force 2?"

His comms officer's mandibles chattered in alarm.

"Sir, half of Force 2's ships have been boarded! The others are requesting instructions!"

Pritor cursed. "I knew it. Tell them to get back here and support us. It's probably too late to save the rest."

His adjutant looked at him. "We're just going to abandon them?"

"We have no choice. If the rest of Force 2 tries to save them I'm not sure they could win. They were only meant to be a blocking force. They don't have the fighting strength the rest of us do."

Although not happy with the decision he understood the logic and his adjutant nodded. "I suppose it might tip the scales in the end, but what –."

He stopped as the door to the map room opened and who should step inside but the inkling of destruction he'd been watching earlier. In her hand she didn't carry the lone pole, instead, a long-handled hammer with a spike on the top and back. Fresh blood dripped from it.

His adjutant bubbled angrily and moved to attack but Pritor stopped him.

"No, if she were here to attack, she would have done it already. This inkling wants to talk."

He hissed, "why should we listen to her?"

"Let's find out."

Pritor stepped forward and spoke in inklish. "I am Pritor Velclaw, commander of this force. You wish to speak to me?"

"I do," she said. "I'm asking you to withdraw."

Those on the bridge still sitting down now all stood up. They chattered their mandibles angrily at her suggestion.

Pritor responded, "this battle is far from over yet. Things might hang in the balance now but soon your troops will tire and our numbers alone will be enough to give us the victory. Even if you kill me it won't change that."

"But killing more of your people will," she said pointedly. "I've killed probably about as many as all the Splatlandians here combined. How many do you think I'd end up killing before the battle is over? How many more of you will die when you get back to Splatsville and find hundreds of Imperial soldiers waiting for you?"

The others clacked angrily and advanced on the inkling but Pritor held out a claw to stop them, never once taking his eyes off the inkling.

He wasn't good at reading body language of inklings or octolings, but she hadn't averted her gaze once while speaking to him, she spoke with unwavering confidence and authority.

"You're with the Ascendancy?"

"I am. Birgus didn't participate in the attack on us so we see no reason to be enemies now. Pull back from the battle and I'll give you something you want."

Pritor narrowed his eyes. He wasn't sure what this inkling was playing at but maybe he was winning the battle more than he thought.

"And what might that be?"

"Free passage for Birgus on the Green River."

Everyone in the room stood stunned. Free passage for ship traffic along the river was the main reason they were there. This inkling was willing to just hand it to them without him having to even win this battle?

"How could you guarantee such a thing? Are you acting on behalf of Balt Ralok?"

"No, I'm speaking on behalf of the Empress and Rak Balt Ralok now answers to her."

Pritor felt a shiver of delight upon hearing that. The proud head of the Balt Ralok clan forced to submit to the authority of an inkling young enough to be his granddaughter, and the granddaughter of one of his most bitter foes during their war with Calachora to boot? That sounded sweet indeed. Still…

"What guarantee can you offer me?" He asked.

She looked annoyed by his question but quickly recomposed herself. "My word. I'll tell the troops in Splatsville to take you into protective custody. Your government will be called and we will give them the offer. We don't want war with Birgus."

"Because you might end up warring with Lanc and the urchins?" She didn't answer. He clicked his mandibles in amusement.

"Does Balt Ralok even know you're here?"

"I don't need his permission to make deals. Would you believe it if it came from him?"

No, he probably wouldn't. Could he trust her any more though? What she was offering seemed beyond belief; on the other hand, he could certainly believe her threats. He wasn't sure if the Ascendancy really did have hundreds of soldiers in Splatsville already, not when he had been assured they could only bring perhaps fifty at a time.

But then, we still don't know how the Ascendancy managed to sneak into the middle of the Grand Consortium, slaughter the whole congress, and escape.

Besides, he couldn't discount the idea that she could turn the tide of battle on her own.

"I can only give orders to our own company. I can't guarantee the others," he said.

"That's fine. If they are foolish enough to disregard your advice then that is how they will die."

"And what about those guarding the vault?"

"You should warn them too. I won't hold it against you if you can't but they will probably die if they stay."

Pritor considered again and looked around at his people. They were angry and didn't like the idea of retreating and part of him felt the same, but he suddenly realized it was because they were looking at this the wrong way.

"Then we've already won," he said.

The inkling bent slightly at the waist in a slight bow. "You've already won. You have no reason to fight anymore."

Something like a sigh came over everyone else in the room, as if they just realized the big picture. This battle didn't matter anymore. It was over. The other two companies and their sponsor countries might not agree, but for Birgus, they had achieved victory. Pritor had achieved victory.

"In that case, you have a deal."

Author's Notes:

Wow, what can I say at this point? This chapter was difficult to write and I'm afraid the battle isn't as clear as I wanted it to be for you, but I was afraid going into too much detail would slow the pacing. I hope it's at least enough for you to know what's happening.

So, landship fights, pretty cool eh? I used real world ship formations and tactics as inspiration, mostly from the era of sailing vessels, and some ancient sea battles with triremes and the like. Given the size of the machines clashing together, I thought giving the chapter the name Tianomachy was appropriate, a name that comes from the war between the Olympian gods and the Titans from Greek mythology.

I hope I made Pritor Velclaw a fun antagonist. I enjoy writing him. Hopefully I'll be able to bring him back one day. His name comes from Pyotor Velikiy, also known as Peter the Great.