Today Yulia came across a lost recruit that was looking for Sumire's workshop. She was able to show them the way there and narrowly avoid running into her fellow Kraken in the process.
...She can't keep going like this. Avoiding confrontation with any of her coworkers is bound to raise some kind of suspicion. Yet at the same time, there isn't a lot she has to gain from extended exposure to them. Beyond what is required for the military to function, anyway.
Soon. She'll have to do something soon. She just wishes she knew what that something was.
Yulia accidentally dropped in on a fresh group of Soy Sauce Scouts that were touring an Octarian military base for the first time.
Needless to say, all but one of them were terrified of the unexpected Kraken appearance. None of the octolings in the group had even developed their mature forms yet.
The one person among the group that wasn't afraid of Yulia tried to pull a prank on her by cutting one of her tentacles, however they were gently disarmed before they could even get their pocket knife close enough.
Yulia made no attempt to punish them, opting to only embarrass them in front of the rest of the group and ensure that they could all be as strong and respected as her one day with proper diligence.
There's been something of a power egg shortage in some of the lower domes for a few days now. At times like this, almost all of the lights in the sky go dark and people have to resort to using fireplaces and torches for warmth and light.
Luckily, thanks to Salmonid intervention this problem is on its way to being remedied.
Yulia is in charge of overseeing of an entire legion of tentakooks that are set to make egg deliveries across all sorts of places in these domes, from business to military bases and even just residential areas. Everyone's going to get what they need to survive for at least a few more weeks.
...Things can't be allowed to go on like this. They need to do more than just barely scrape by.
With the current situation in the domes about as normal as it can be, Yulia has received a communication from Sumire.
"Yulia.
I'd like to formally apologise for saddling you with a large portion of my workload as well as the state of our most recent meeting. If it would suit you, perhaps we could go out for tea and something to eat when we both have some free time? I look forward to hearing back from you.
Your colleague, Sumire."
...
Why did she have to do this? She means well, but I'd really rather not meet with any of my associates without some way of getting them off my back if I need to...
Without giving it much further thought, Yulia scrunched up the letter and threw it into her little trash can.
If she brings it up I'll just pretend I forgot about it...
A young soldier in Octo Canyon recently tried to hand in the five stickers that had been scattered around each of the sectors and claim her reward of five free shrimp burger coupons.
This has prompted a Canyon wide announcement stating that the promotion in question had expired several years ago.
...That soldier did end up getting her free shrimp burgers though. They didn't have the hearts to turn her away after all her efforts.
While the other Krakens are busy with their engineering issues, Eris is away from the domes to investigate a potential hole in the Inkadian's defensive perimeters. This type of trip is not all that uncommon for her. While she could just send some subordinates in her place to investigate for her, she needs to see these sorts of things for herself. Her strategy relies on it. She needs as much information on locations as possible, especially if they are potentially going to become battlefields.
In the many times she's been able to investigate areas like this, she's never been able to find anything significant enough to tip the scales in the Octarian's favour. In fact, more often than not, most of the things she ends up investigating end up being complete false alarms and provide them with no strategic advantages whatsoever.
Lately two of the other Krakens; Tamura and Sumire have had their limbs full of machines that have broken down or been found to be defective. These have ranged from personal pieces of equipment for individual soldiers to power systems that keep entire domes functioning.
With Eris currently busy elsewhere, the responsibility of helping them out has fallen to Yulia. However, thanks to Yulia's... less than stellar grasp of engineering, she's more or less been stuck with all the grunt work while the other two are working on the much bigger, more important things.
It is a little bit of an embarrassing assignment to have, but Yulia doesn't mind the work one bit. Fixing up basic tools like weapons, flashlights and drills makes for relatively easy work and it's very good at keeping her brain in that nice in between state of not being overwhelmed with things to do, but still being occupied enough that she's not left alone to brood for an extended period of time.
With the meeting finally behind her, things can start getting back to normal for Yulia.
Todays activities include a routine check on some of the elite's physical capabilities. This is rather standard for soldiers aged in their late 40s and beyond, and is just to ensure that their skills aren't starting to rust with age.
Of course, it's not the end of the world if some the older soldiers are starting to slow down as they get older. Most people do end up leaving military service in their 50s or in some cases even their 60s. These people then tend to take up less physically demanding jobs in the domes until they retire properly.
...Ugh. Yulia really didn't want to think about getting old right now...
Meeting her fellow Krakens on the field of battle is one thing. But essentially being forced into a room with them for several hours is quite another.
Yulia has been dreading this meeting for a while now, but it's time face it and finally get it over with.
A single deep breath was all she gave herself before opening the door to the war room, all three of the other Krakens were already seated and waiting inside.
Furthest from her was Sumire Koizumi, the person considered to have the best engineering skills of anyone in the empire. Naturally, she oversees the manufacturing and maintenance of just about every piece of machinery that the military uses. She looks the part of an engineer too, with a blue coat over her armour and a pair of baggy trousers to go with it. Her goggles usually sit atop her head when they're not in use, and have been modified to better protect her face when she is working with the machines she loves so dearly. She was also heading Yulia's team with her during the mock battle, and was soundly defeated by the woman sitting next to her.
Tamura Oniiwa is the wild card of the four Krakens. There isn't a particular area she excels at better than the rest, however her skills with just about everything sit at a very good baseline that makes her much more versatile and threatening than any other soldier. Her choice of armour is... not something Yulia could ever figure out. It's like she got every piece of protective padding she could find and stuck it to herself. Clothing is something they'd get into arguments about frequently and Yulia is hoping she can avoid that today, though if it does come to pass it might be better than anything else they could argue about.
And finally there's the eldest of the Krakens, Eris Hawkeburn. The same person that Yulia was seconds away from fishing off in the mock battle. She's the strategist for the military and like Sumire, she's considered the best at what she does. Tamura would likely take some credit for coming up with the strategy that won them the battle, but in all likelihood it was probably Eris alone. And using herself as bait for Yulia of all people... that says something about her boldness. This woman's confidence levels are off the charts and her armour speaks to that, being no different form the standard for all soldiers, the only difference being a scope on the left eye of her goggles.
Eris and Tamura stared at Yulia as she stepped in and took her seat, a somewhat scornful look on both of their faces. The former was the first to say something.
"Took you long enough to show up. How long did you want to keep us waiting?"
Sigh. She can't catch a break. The first sentence of the entire meeting and she's already being chastised.
"If you didn't want to be kept waiting, why did you schedule the meeting for 0900? I'm on time—"
"Come on Quelaan, you're a Kraken. Do you really think just barely being on time is good enough? What if this was an emergency?" Tamura chimed in, to the dismay of both Yulia and Eris.
The latter would have preferred to do the talking herself.
"But it isn't, this is literally a planned meeting—"
The loud clearing of someone's throat interrupted Yulia. The noise only could have come from Sumire.
"Now now, let's all calm down here... Why don't we excuse Miss Quelaan for now. I'm sure we all have much more important things to discuss here."
The room fell silent for a moment. Everyone just sort of staring awkwardly at each other as Sumire's words hung in the air for just a bit too long.
As usual, Tamura was the first to speak again.
"Right. Let's move on to what I believe should be the primary order of business that we speak about here today...!"
Despite the fact that their eyes were all fixed on the person speaking, Yulia could feel Eris' eyes and practically see them rolling already. They both knew exactly what was coming.
"Preparing for our invasion of Inkadia!"
That triumphant, confident aura didn't make it anywhere near Yulia's half of the room. It hadn't even been ten minutes but the mood had already managed to drop to depths far lower than any dome.
"Absolutely not!"
Eris retorted. A snarl ever present in her voice.
"You do this every single time! How many times do I have to tell you before I get it into your thick head?! We. Are. Not. Ready!"
This is just about how Yulia expected things would go. Tuning out the sound of people screaming is not an easy skill to master, and Yulia is certainly no expert, but she'll try. Her goggles at least leave her in a position where she can close her eyes. Maybe by some miracle, she'll be able to fall asleep without anyone noticing...
...
"Hey... You still in there...?"
Yulia quickly blinked herself awake. She hadn't been asleep, but the clock on the HUD of her goggles told her that she'd successfully zoned out for about an hour.
Sumire had moved next to her in the midst of Eris and Tamura's screaming competition, some kind of flask in her hands, the lid on the table in front of them.
"Here."
She poured some liquid into the lid and offered it to Yulia. The scent instantly gave away that it was some kind of tea.
"Thanks."
Yulia took her newfound drink and raised it to her lips. It was still very hot, just the way she liked it...
Did Sumire brew this in here without anyone noticing...?
"Not a problem at all. Figured it was the least I could do after losing the battle for us... Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it. We were against her anyway. Figured she'd know what we were gonna do before we even did."
"Heh... I suppose you're not wrong there..."
Unfortunately their pleasant little conversation was cut short by Tamura's impossible-to-ignore yelling.
"AND I HATE THAT YOU'VE CONVINCED HER THAT YOU'RE RIGHT!"
An accusing finger was pointed at Yulia. She did not need to hear the hour of arguing that preceded this moment to know what they were talking about.
"You make a... compelling argument. But Eris is right. Even if we were to defeat Inkadia, it would likely come with heavy losses of our own. And once we're out in the open like that... would we really be able to survive if someone else turned their attention to us? You know the Splatlands are still standing strong... Would they take it too well if we crushed one of their allies?"
Sumire made sure to get a word in before anyone else did. Tamura was sure to start yelling again if she didn't.
"And you don't think the new resources on the surface might put us in a better position? Or that might be able to call upon the Salmonids for additional help?"
"I... Don't know that they'd be able to turn the tides for us. The Salmonids have their own problems too..."
Yulia wishes she could feel comfortable truly speaking her mind here. She does believe what she's saying on some level, but it all feels quite shallow to her. She can only hope it doesn't appear that way to the others.
Tamura's fist slammed against the end of the table.
"They would help us if we were to go to war! We share a common enemy!"
Sumire raised her hands in a vain attempt to calm the room.
"Now now... I can see quite clearly that we're not getting anywhere bickering like this. Why don't we just put a cap on this meeting for the day if we don't have any other pressing matters to discuss?"
Silence once again. Emotions were still running high, but Sumire may have just prevented things from getting worse.
Yulia stood up, quickly putting distance between herself and the rest of the group.
"I'm leaving. And I suggest we place a ban on discussing this topic for our next meeting. Surely there are more important things we could be talking about."
She did not wait for a response before exiting the room and near running off.
Yulia heard the door open and slam shut behind her very soon after. She could only assume it was Eris returning home as usual, leaving the other two to sort themselves out in the aftermath.
With the mock battle behind them, things would quickly turn back to normal for the Octarians. Yulia of course, had not received any rewards, being on the losing team. Not that she cared all that much, the experience of it was the main draw to her anyway, and the reward was likely just some kind of commemorative medal or something like that. She'd have opportunities to earn far more meaningful things in the future.
The prospect of returning to normal would usually be exciting, or at the very least, comforting. But seeing as how Yulia was just advised that the next meeting with her fellow Krakens is imminent... she's not looking forward to the days ahead of her.
The Octarian mock battle is drawing to a close. Both sides have made some kind of push into the opposing dome, so there's fighting on both ends. The remaining members of Yulia's squad had made it to the enemy headquarters, most of them taking their battle to the outer defenses, with fewer still heading inside. It was Yulia alone that had decided to charge into the heart of the building, where she's expecting at least one of the other Krakens to be.
A single powerful kick was all that was required for her to break down the door. Once it had fell to the ground with a loud clash, Yulia found herself standing face to face with the other Kraken, though it wasn't who she was expecting.
"What the shell, Quelaan! You're not supposed to actually break stuff!"
Eris Hawkeburn, the eldest of the four Krakens stood opposite her, and though she was a bit exasperated due to Yulia's choice of entrance, she didn't seem all that surprised to see her here.
"The battlefield can be unpredictable in many different ways. I thought you'd be well aware of that." Yulia's confident tone would perhaps come off a bit condescending, but statistically speaking it is rather warranted. She's beaten Eris in training matches almost every single time they've fought. "Tamura's not with you?"
"No. You're stuck with me unfortunately. Though maybe she'll come back once she's done mopping the floor with whatever sub-optimal defenses you've got set up." Eris is unbothered by Yulia's display of confidence. To her she's just another cocky youth who thinks the world is at her fingertips.
"Then I'll just have to deal with you before that happens."
And with that, the final battle had begun. Yulia didn't hesitate to charge at the enemy in front of her, throwing a swift punch at Eris that was narrowly avoided. There was no attempt at a counterattack. Not yet. Eris backed off despite not have a lot of space to do so in the small room.
Yulia took this as another opening to strike, swinging her left leg at the Kraken in an attempt to push her into the corner. Just as predicted, Eris backed off once again, this time more or less cutting off any chance at an escape. If she wanted to act, she'd have to do it now.
...Though nothing came of it, and Yulia was afforded an opportunity to attack again. This time her strike actually connected, and she was able grab Eris by the throat, though she had been aiming a bit higher, hoping to remove the scoped goggles from her face. With this she was able to slam the other against the wall, knocking the wind out of her. And in this desperate position, Eris was finally forced to act, flailing her legs around and managing to kick Yulia in the gut with one, staggering her enough to raise her other leg high enough to deliver a kick to her chin, causing her to let go and stumble back some.
Yulia simply smirked. The pain did sting a bit, but it was overshadowed by the relief she felt at knowing her opponent hadn't simply given up. It wouldn't be like Eris to just admit defeat anyway.
While Eris had to take a moment to recover, Yulia grabbed her once again, this time by the arm. And on this occasion she wouldn't be allowed a moment to retaliate, as she was soon lifted over Yulia's head and sent crashing back down to the ground. She had attempted to brace for the impact with her limbs, but that may have only made things worse as they all felt the shock of it. That would surely be sore later tonight...
Still, it would take more than being tossed around to take down a Kraken, and Eris wouldn't allow herself to lose so easily. She scrambled to switch forms and jump between Yulia's legs. After hitting the ground on the other side she propelled herself upwards with a small jet of ink, like a mini superjump and landed at the back of Yulia's neck, right where she wanted to be. From here it would be an easy task to get two pairs of tentacles around her in an attempt to strangle her.
Yulia of course struggled against the weight of the octopus on top of her and the strangulation. Eris was very good at what she did, so she quickly started to feel that shortness of breath, indicative that the air wasn't quite getting through to her.
With her position in the middle of the room, she resorted to a somewhat unconventional tactic as simply prying the tentacles from her neck wouldn't be an option. Instead, she threw herself backwards with as much speed as possible. Hitting the floor with a thud and crushing the octopus between it and her back.
It wasn't enough to free herself from Eris' grip, but the impact did at least do enough damage to allow her to remove all but one of the tentacles from her throat with ease. The feeling of the air getting to her lungs again gave her the energy to continue her assault.
Yulia spun around and got to her knees so she could inspect her opponent, but before she could manage another attack Eris had already managed to peel herself from the ground and hit Yulia in the face with her knee in the process. This was followed up by a punch, also delivered to Yulia's face, though she could tell Eris' strength was waning from the lack of power behind it and her shaky stance.
The pain was getting a bit harder to ignore, but that wouldn't stop her from making one final push. She rushed forward at Eris, barely thinking as she grabbed her by the throat once again and ran her into the wall behind her. The next blow would be the final one. Yulia wound her fist up and thrust it forward...!
...
But just a moment before it made contact, an alarm went off. A signal that one team had managed to capture the other's headquarters, and the battle had concluded.
Yulia dropped Eris to the ground and grabbed her radio to check in on her ally.
"Sumire! Respond! What's going on over there!? You didn't really—"
Eris stood up, battered though she may be. Her plan to hold Yulia off until her base could be captured worked, just as she expected. Though she wished she could have avoided taking such a beating.
"Heh... Better luck next time, Quelaan..."
Eris tapped Yulia's shoulder as she slowly walked out of the room, with all the confidence of someone who just got beaten up... which is surprisingly a lot.
She had earned it though. Her team had managed to come out on top, and they would surely be enjoying whatever rewards victory brought soon enough...
Each of the two domes that have been reserved have split up, one for each team. Yulia's group is starting with a strong push into the other, with her team opting to open with a forceful assault to take as much of her opponent's space and resources as possible, with her leading the attack, of course. Meanwhile, the other Kraken heading her team; Sumire Koizumi, had decided to stay back to guard their own headquarters, anticipating some kind of more sneaky maneuver from the opposing side.
But with nothing to report from their own dome for the time being, the sole focus of the action is Yulia and her squad's impressive display of skill as they make headway into the other dome. There's no shortage of ink-slinging going on in the middle of the battlefield, with all sorts of weapons, bombs and even cannons going off constantly. This is supposed to emulate a real battlefield situation after all.
Though they're making good progress now, only time will tell how the battle will end. Yulia's opponents can't stay complacent for too long, they know this...
Yulia will be fighting alongside one of her fellow Krakens, whilst the other two will be leading the opposing team. It's been quite a while since a battle like this was staged with all four Krakens taking part, so this is bound to be a good one.
In addition to the teams being decided, the terms for victory have also been settled on. It'll be a simple fight where whoever defeats all of the opposing team's soldiers or captures the enemy base wins. Respawns will not be permitted, though the pads will of course remain operational. Anyone who is splatted will be forced to sit on the sidelines and watch.
The event will also be broadcast to the rest of the domes. As useful as getting people combat experience that's as close to the real deal as possible is, it's also rather entertaining to watch—
There's going to be a huge mock battle soon and not only does she get to help out with preparations, she'll also be participating.
The battle is going to be so large that two entire domes are being reserved for the occasion. The few locals that live in each will be moved into temporary accommodations, and the soldiers taking part are to be extra careful to not actually damage any of their property.
Soldiers not feeling good physically, mentally or whatever else? It's not a major problem for Yulia. Requests for time off are generally always approved as there are more than enough hands to pick up the slack for a few missing people.
There have been a few more of those request than usual lately though... Perhaps it's something that needs to be looked into.
YULIA IS SO READY TO GET OUT ON THE FRONT LINES AND SMASH THOSE INKADIAN TROOPS AND GRIND THEIR TENTACLES INTO TOOTHPASTE—
...This would all be well and good if there was actually any conflict going on. She can't even provide aid to the salmonids with their Grizzco issues due to the fact that Octarian involvement would inevitably make that spiral into a much bigger conflict.
She really just wants to smash something today. It doesn't even have to be Inkadian, but there's no way she's bringing that upon her own people—
It's been a long week for... just about everyone in the Octarian military, Yulia included.
Nothing too out of the ordinary even happened, sometimes there are just moment when the crushing reality of their situation seems to be at the forefront of everyone's minds.
...Something will have to change soon. They surely can't keep this up much longer.
