#agent penguin

(Several miles from the crater in Takoyarkov, 100 feet above sea level...)

“GBR HQ come in. This is Commander Blitz. Do you copy?”

Roger that we hear you loud and clear sir.

”Excellent, me and the other Agents are approaching the drop zone in approximately 5 minutes.”

Understood sir. Tell them to prepare for low altitude jump once you are at the drop zone.

“Understood HQ. Over and out.”

The inkling commander packed his radio away in a pocket on his parka and made his way towards the back of his aircraft, a reverse engineered helicopter from human schematics. He looked to the passenger compartment and saw 4 inklings wearing the latest Agent gear and weapons supplied by Sheldon. 

They sat together in pairs, which he assumed meant that they’d rather work with each other’s pairings. Two of them, a sea foam green inkling girl and a lime green inkling boy, were quietly conversing with their weapons, a Hero Splatling and a pair of Hero Dualies respectively, by their sides. The other pair of inklings,  pink and purple, were keeping quiet with the pink one holding onto one of the purple one’s arms nervously. Blitz took in a deep breath and made his way towards them.

“Alright Agents, we’re almost at our target. ETA 5 minutes. I’ll brief you one more time on the mission.” Blitz motioned for all four to move closer to him as he dragged a small collapsible table to the center of the compartment. He took out a folded map and spread it across. “We’re about here,” he planted a finger over a stretch of ocean. “heading east towards here.” he dragged his finger until he stopped at the center of a large city ruins. “Our objective is to extract two of my commando operatives from what we believe to be is a human weapons bunker.”

“Woah...” the lime green inkling stuttered as he stared at the map in awe. “So that’s where we’re headed to?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re saying that there are Octarians and Salmonids there as well?” the purple inkling huffed, a cross look on her face.

“It seems so. We’re not entirely sure why they are working together but it can’t be anything good.”

“Yep,” the sea foam green inkling nodded, holding onto her weapon close. “as if dealing with those Octarians weren’t bad enough...”

“Anyway our primary entry plan is to conduct a low altitude jump with me on point. I’ll clear a small area so that our pilots can land this bird and get you on the ground. Once we establish a foothold there two of you will move into the crater and find my operatives. Once you’ve found them head back to the heli and we’ll get out of here.”

“And if our plans don’t go accordingly?” the lime green inkling asked as he crossed his arms.

“Then we’ll just have to improvise, won’t we?” Blitz grinned and packed up the map and slid it into his parka. He then pulled out a Bamboozler Mk. 4 and planted the butt down on the floor of the helicopter. “Alright! Agents Phantom, Mantis, Penguin, and Polar Bear, prepare for low altitude drop!”

“Sir yessir!” All four stood at attention and readied their own weapons.

Without looking, the inkling commander swung his left arm back and hit a red button, causing the back of the aircraft to open up.

“W-wait, you were serious?” Agent Penguin sqeaked in surprise as air began roaring in and out of the compartment.

“Yes, this is what I mean when I said ‘low altitude drop’!” Blitz made his way towards the opening door and looked outside. As he gazed at the passing buildings and flora he saw that the surroundings were beginning to look like the ones on the map. He turned towards the Agents and stamped his weapon down again. “Alright, don’t forget the mission Agents! I’ll see you on the ground!” With that Blitz started to fall backwards and out of the aircraft, causing the 4 remaining inklings to stare in shock and disbelief. 

“Is he crazy?” Agent Mantis yelled over the sound of the rushing air and propeller engine.

(Meanwhile as Blitz was free falling towards certain death...)

Blitz turned himself so that his body was facing the ground, ever growing closer to him as wind whipped by his face. He made a small grin as he quickly holstered his Bamboozler and pulling out a Hero Shot, aiming at the ground and letting out quick bursts of ink. Once he saw a small puddle of his ink reach the ground he quickly shifted into his squid form and aimed himself right at the colored splotch, landing with a loud SPLASH! 

Looks like I made it to the ground safely... Blitz shifted back to his bipedal form and looked around, seeing groups of Octarians and Salmonids beginning to converge on his location. Switching his Hero Shot for his Bamboozler rifle, he calmly pulled out a bayonet and fixed it onto the end of his weapon before cocking it. “Alright ya bunch of scum sucking suckerheads and fish sticks, you want a piece of me?”

The enemies that were already waiting pointed their weapons at him. But he only grinned as he pointed his own at the closest target. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

(Back in the helicopter...)

“Did... did he really just dive off the chopper?” Agent Phantom stared at the others in bewilderment as the others watched him begin assaulting the surrounding enemy force. One by one he gunned down Octarians and Salmonids in quick succession with his rifle, quickly changing his style of combat from close range fire to close quarters combat with his affixed bayonet. 

“Woah... he’s unstoppable.” Agent Mantis muttered, holding onto her Dualies tightly. Moments later the skirmish was over as dozens of enemy troops lie dead or wounded around the inkling commander, his parka splattered with purple ink and green mucus. 

“Agents... the enemy force has been neutralized. Sector is clear-”

Blitz heard a booming crack from behind and dodged to the side as a large projectile whizzed past his face before impacting a few meters behind him.

“Not clear! I repeat, not clear!” He stood up and saw that an armored tank was rolling towards him, the main gun pointed right at him. Gritting his beak he holstered his Bamboozler and started running to its left side, making sure to keep an eye on where the cannon was pointing. As soon as it was aiming in front of him he quickly turned to rush its right. He continued this zig-zag movement until he was almost face to face with the vehicle. He then pulled out his Hero Shot and inked the frontal plates before swimming up to the top. He was then met with an Octarian trooper who popped his head out from the commander’s hatch, which he quickly took down with a few bursts from his weapon. He stood over the open hatch and threw down two Splat Bombs before leaping off and landing in front of the tank. He heard the sounds of panicked voices before-

BOOM! BOOM!

The Splat Bombs went off and rocked the vehicle, the engine eventually stopping and the gun barrel soon leaked of ink.

“Tank destroyed. Agents, tell the pilots that the area is now secured.” 

“You got it Blitz.” Agent Polar Bear replied before making her way to the cockpit. “Commander Blitz said that the area is cleared out.”

“Understood, prepare for landing procedures. Tell the other Agents to get ready.” One of the pilots ordered as he flipped a few switches. Agent Polar Bear returned to the others and relayed the pilot’s order to them. A few moments later all four watched as the aircraft landed next to Blitz, the inkling standing with both his weapons holstered. The group met up with the inkling commander and gave him a quick salute.

“Good, now we’ll split up into two groups. Group 1 will come with me and venture into the vault to see if my operatives are alive, hopefully. While Group 2 stays here with the pilots and holds this landing zone until Group 1 returns. Understood?” Blitz pulled out his Hero Shot once more and cocked it ready.

“Yessir!” All four replied.

“Good, Agents Penguin and Polar Bear will be Group 1 while Agents Phantom and Mantis are in Group 2.”

“Understood.” Agent Polar Bear nodded.

“We’re on it!” Agent Mantis motioned for his partner to follow him.

Blitz signaled for Group 1 to follow him as he descended down the pit. Don’t worry you two, help is on the way. 

(Moments later...)

As Blitz and Group 1 made their way down the darkened corridors of the vault, he tried to radio to Siemo and Torke. 

“Siemo, come in.”

“....”

“Torke do you read me?”

“....”

“Shit, this isn’t good. They aren’t replying to my radio.” Blitz sighed with frustration. 

“Then we should pick up the pace.” Agent Polar Bear suggested as she looked back to Agent Penguin, who was keeping silent and holding onto her Hero Roller. “Hey, we’re gonna be alright. You saw how Blitz took care of those guys earlier.”

The pink inkling nodded to her friend but kept quiet. Suddenly she felt something wrap around her shoulder and looked up to see that the purple inkling was holding her close, a warm comforting smile beaming down to her. “I’ll keep you safe, don’t worry.”

“Come on you two, stay close to me,” Blitz looked back to the pair. “We don’t know who else might be here.” 

The pair grouped up behind him and continued onward until they came upon a set of metal doors. They seemed to have been cut open and torn to shreds. 

“That... is definitely not good.”

Blitz took cover to the left of the opening and signaled for the others to take the right.

“Alright, on my mark I’ll take the left side. You two take the right.” He whispered to them. He took a quick glance around the door way before looking back to the agents.

“One... two... three!”

The group rounded the corner and readied their weapons. However what they saw instead caught them completely off guard, as all around them were several octarian and salmonids soldiers lying dead. Blitz lowered his weapon and stared at them, memories from years ago coming back. 

Good Cod, what... happened here?

He walked to the nearest corpse and took a closer look, noticing that the body was riddled with holes. 

Just as I thought. This isn’t the work of an ink weapon...

He stood up and looked at the other bodies, seeing that they too had the same type of wounds. He also noticed many small metallic cylinders scattered along the ground.

“We have to find my operatives now!” Blitz made a run through the carnage, leaving the two agents behind. They glanced at each other and knew what to do and followed on his heels. As they moved through the ginormous storage space they kept finding more and more dead soldiers, all of them meeting the same fate as the ones they found earlier. Eventually the trio found themselves in front of what appeared to be a makeshift barricade made up of a few vehicles, crates, and pieces of debris. He motioned his hand for the agents to stay put and carefully climbed up the pile. 

“Siemo? Torke?” He called out, hoping to get a verbal response. “It’s me, Blitz! Are you two alright?” He could barely make out the sounds of someone moving behind the barricade. Unsure of who it was he reached over to his Hero Shot. “Siemo, Torke. Please tell me that’s one of you two behind there...” For what felt like a small eternity he waited to hear anything from the other side. Finally he heard someone grunt as though they were in pain. He took a deep breath and quickly crested the top of the pile and aimed, seeing a certain albino octoling pointing at him with a weapon herself. For a moment the two held their breath before Blitz lowered his sights and let go of his gun, raising his hands in front of him. “It’s okay Siemo, it’s me.” But he only managed to take a few steps forward before the octoling raised her weapon at him.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Blitz raised his arms up high and stared at her. The look in her eyes was of determination... and fear.

“Siemo calm down. It’s me.”

“How do I know you’re not some... mimic octoling pretending to be you!”

Blitz calmly reached up to his beret and slipped it off, revealing to her his hair tentacles. She looked and immediately recognized it.

“It... it really is you.” Siemo’s eyes softened and she dropped her gun, the weapon clattering loudly on the ground as she let out a sobbing gasp. She was about to collapse on the ground when he reached to her and broke her fall. “There... there were so many sir...”

“It’s okay Siemo. I got you.”

“And... and Torke got hit and I didn’t know what to do so I just kept shooting and-”

Blitz grabbed onto her shoulders and stared at her with hard but stoic eyes.

“It’s alright Siemo.”

The octoling wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Th... thank you sir.”

Blitz patted her head and back to comfort her before he set her down next to some rubble.

“Agents, come up here! One of mine needs medical attention!”

Seconds later Agents Penguin and Polar Bear went over the top of the barricade and climbed down. The first went over to the wounded inkling commando and tended to his injuries while the second kneeled next to Blitz.

“So, what now? We extract and head back to the heli?”

“No, not yet. Those octarian and salmonid forces were here for a reason, despite everything in this vault.” He stood up and looked around again when his eyes fell upon a third sealed door. This one seemed to have even more security locks on it compared to the first and second. “And something tells me that is why they came here.” He approached the door and analyzed it. The structure of it as well as the amount of locks and security grids gave it the impression that it’s impenetrable. For a few silence minutes Siemo and the agents watched Blitz as he was deep in thought. 

He must be thinking of a way to crack open that door. Maybe some highly calculated guesses on the door’s password? Or perhaps some kind of hacking device that would-

“Hiyah!” Blitz kicked at the control panel of the door, which caused a shower of sparks to fly in all directions. Suddenly the door rumbled and gradually opened.

Or... he could do that and skip the thinking all together.

“Heh, pretty sensitive tech.” Blitz scoffed. Once the door fully opened he walked inside, the hallway stretching towards another chamber. Once he reached it he saw a giant container, similar to the one discovered years ago with the cat Judd inside it.

What the...? Blitz cautiously approached the tube and looked through the glass panel and couldn’t believe his eyes. Inside it wasn’t another feline or even an animal. Rather it was-

A human? He stepped back in shock as he realized what he had just stumbled upon. This changes everything! Blitz reached for his radio and quickly contacted Group 2. “Agents Phantom and Mantis! Get my pilots on the line!”

“Wh-what? Why? What’s going on?” Agent Mantis asked but was cut off.

“Do it now!”

He heard him hesitate for a moment before the agent rushed to the helicopter and handed his radio to them.

“What’s the situation sir?”

“Change of plans. Contact GBR HQ immediately!”

“Huh?” The pilots glanced at each other in confusion. “Understood sir, what do we tell them?”

“Tell them to send in everything we have to Takoyarkov!”

“E-everything?”

“Everything!”

The two pilots nodded to each other and began to turn on the aircraft’s communications systems.

Blitz put away his radio and ran to the others as quick as he can. When he reached Group 1 and his operatives he picked up Torke and placed him on his shoulders. “Let’s move! Hurry!”

“What? What’s going on!” Agent Penguin questioned him. 

“I’ll explain on the way to the chopper! Now let’s move it!” Blitz didn’t look back to the others as he ran towards the second door way, leaving the others to catch up with him.

(A few minutes later, back at the helicopter...)

Group 1 along with Blitz and Siemo finally appeared out of the crater to Group 2′s relief. Blitz quickly went inside the aircraft and set Torke down before reaching into a medical box and pulling out an IV bag. He inserted the needle into his comrade’s arm and got the drip to start before moving to the cockpit. 

“Sir, we’ve contacted HQ and they’re sending in as many squads as they can muster.”

“Good, now wait with the others.”

“Yessir.” They obliged and left, leaving Blitz alone. He turned to a small box nestled between the pilots’ seats and opened it, pulling out a koshirae. He then slipped the sheath through a loop on his pants and walked outside. There he saw all four agents, his pilots, and Siemo waiting for him. 

“Everyone, change of plans. We have to hold this area until backup arrives. It seems this alliance between the octarians and salmonids was more than just finding those human-made weapons.” He reached over to a small crate and pulled out several folded panels before giving them to Agent Mantis and Polar Bear.

“Listen up! I’m gonna need you to set up those barriers around the perimeter of the chopper. We’ll form a defensive perimeter and hold off any remaining forces who might try to take back this vault. Understood?”

“Sir yessir!” The two set out and began to place the panels around them. He then took both his holstered weapons out and handed them to the pilots. 

“You two will help the agents and Siemo hold this perimeter.”

“Yessir!” They gave him a quick salute and moved out, pulling the panels up to form cover.

“Siemo,” he called out to the octoling. “I’m going to need you to provide support fire for Agent Phantom and Penguin. Mantis and Polar Bear will be able to help you out as well.”

“Okay...” the albino sighed before stealing a glance at her wounded comrade.

“Hey, I’m worried about Torke too. But you have to keep your mind on the here and now,” He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “He’ll make it.”

She looked up at him and nodded before taking out her Octoshot. “Thank you Blitz.”

He returned the gesture and waited for the remaining panels to be placed. Once the last have been placed he called them all back and ordered them into positions so their respective weapons will have the most effectiveness. 

“Alright everyone. I suspect that any lingering enemy forces will have regrouped by now. And as we speak they are most likely preparing a counterattack in an attempt to force us out of this city. But we will stop them here!” He pulled out his sheathed blade and struck the ground, slashing a line in front of him. “If we can hold out until reinforcements arrive then this city and everything in that vault is ours!”

Just as we was finishing a loud booming horn rang out from around them followed by a chorus of war cries.

“This is it people! Keep calm and soldier on!” He swiped his sword to the side and grabbed it with both hands before raising it to his side, the metal shining the rising sun’s rays off its surface. Then the first wave of attackers appeared a few hundred meters in front of them, their weapons primed and pointing right at Blitz. The inkling took a long deep breath before screaming at the top of his lungs and rushing the oncoming force.