Two months after mapping Earth, the Young Six were ready to return home to Equus. As they finished making sure their systems were primed, they received a video call from Callie.
“This is the Harmony. Go ahead, Callie.”, said Sandbar.
“I’d like you to meet someone.”, she replied.
“Stand by. We’ll put you on our main view-screen.”, said Silverstream as she transferred the call to the bridge’s viewer.
When the live feed was transferred to the main view-screen, Callie appeared to be visiting someone. They could tell this because they saw another male inkling in the background but didn’t recognize him. Callie was also cradling Taylor in her arms and rocking him gently. Taylor was wrapped snugly in a red blanket and sleeping soundly while sucking on his pacifier.
“I want to thank Smolder for helping me give birth to Taylor. Also, I want you to meet my cousin Marie, and her sweet little daughter Lizzie.”, said Callie as another inkling sat down on the couch next to her while holding a little girl with sapphire-blue eyes and wearing pink overalls.
Marie said hi to the Young Six, and Lizzie waved as she cooed with a cute smile on her face.
“Hey Marie, how old’s Lizzie?”, asked Ocellus out of curiosity.
“Three months before Taylor’s birth, she turned two.”, said Marie.
For a moment, the second male inkling walked up to the camera and introduced himself as Marie’s husband Andrew.
The Young Six proceeded to explain to both Callie and Marie who they were and what they had been doing. Then, Callie and Marie explained who they were and that they were music stars. The Young Six were shocked.
“We just finished our mission and it is time for us to head home.”, said Sandbar.
“It sounds like you’ve had an interesting mission. We hope to see you again someday.”, said the Squid Sisters.
The Young Six acknowledged and continued checking their systems as they prepared to go home.
Daring Do was shocked by all of the information that the Young Six had gathered from Earth. She knew that Flurry Heart would be excited to meet the inhabitants. Sandbar knew this too and had written down everything they would tell her.
After waiting a few weeks on-board the space station for a clear path to Equus, it was time for the Young Six to go home. They began strapping into their seats after sealing the hatch and then set their course. After the docking clamps were released from the Harmony, Sandbar started going through the checklist to make sure they were ready.
“Okay guys, listen up. Give me a status report.”, he said.
“Course is set.”, said Gallus.
“Path to Equus is clear.”, said Ocellus.
“Personal ships are locked in secure.”, said Silverstream.
“Warp drive is fully charged.”, said Smolder.
“Engines are ready to fire.”, said Yona.
“Then let’s go home.” said Sandbar.
After counting down, Yona hit the switch to set the ship in motion. The engines fired off and the Harmony shot through space, bound for Equus.
From the ground on Earth, Callie, Michael, Taylor, Marie, Andrew, and Lizzie watched as the ship flew out of their range of vision in the night sky. Taylor and Lizzie cooed in amazement as they watched the ship fly off into deep space.
“They’re headed home.”, said Callie.
“I hope they come back again someday.”, said Marie.
During the flight back to Equus, the Young Six scanned their ships to prep them for decontamination. The scanners picked something up for all six ships attached to the main computers. Taking a look, the Young Six found the taps that the Draconians had placed. It turned out that the taps were cloaked in the beginning and the scanners shorted out the cloaking devices.
“Those sneaky Draconians!”, hissed Smolder.
“If they’ve been tracking us, then it’s time to stop it. They will not know where we come from.”, said Sandbar as he removed the tap from his ship.
After all six taps were removed, five of them were placed in the Harmony’s incinerator to be destroyed and the sixth one was turned off. Little did anyone know that the Draconians were now planning an invasion of Earth.
**
Thorax worked with the orbital patrol that watched for any ships or possible hazards approaching Equus. Whenever he saw a signal appear on radar, he would analyze it so he knew what was coming. As he was making his rounds, the alarm sounded to indicate a tracking signal coming on radar. He ran to his station and quickly identified the tracking identification as the E S S Harmony. Excited that the Young Six were finally home, he radioed Flurry Heart.
“Orbital Patrol to Canterlot. The Harmony has just appeared on radar.”, he said.
Five seconds later, a call from the Harmony confirmed what Thorax had said.
“E S S Harmony to Canterlot. We’re home. All five remaining sectors have been mapped out for addition to the star-charts.”, said Sandbar.
“Copy that, Harmony. You are clear for landing in the Everfree Forest.”, she said.
After the Harmony had touched down, Flurry stood ready to greet the Young Six as they disembarked.
“Welcome home, you guys. I will get the information added to the star-charts on the double.”, she said.
“We have a surprise for you, Your Majesty.”, said Smolder.
“What would that be?”, asked Flurry.
“In Sector 7, we mapped out a planet with friendly life that is excited to meet more of us from Equus.”, said Sandbar.
“However, Sector 4 had fewer planets than expected. According to Spike, most of the planets were destroyed by powerful solar flares.”, Ocellus said sadly.
“Sector 5 was not an easy place to get through. The Draconians tried to find out where we came from and they tapped our ships. Luckily, we found the taps and destroyed most of them before we got home. We powered off the last one to reprogram it. The inhabitants of Merlin 5 tried to brainwash us, but we resisted.”, said Silverstream.
After Flurry added the information to the star-charts, the Young Six told her everything they had learned when mapping the planet where Inkopolis and Splatsville were located. Flurry was proud that Smolder assisted Callie with the birth of her son. All of the knowledge was intriguing to her and she accepted their idea to return to Earth and prep the citizens for defense against attacks.
“I agree. We should arrange a time to go there. It would also be nice for us to form an alliance with them for war, should those times come back.”, she said.
Over the next few weeks, a mission was laid out to return to Sector 7 so that the Squidbeak Agents and any others willing to defend could be trained. This mission required a larger starship, called the Alicorn, to be constructed. It took three months for the Alicorn to be constructed and for all of its systems to be tested. Once all of the training equipment was prepared, the time had come. The Alicorn was launched and the crew set off.
**
When the Alicorn arrived in orbit above Earth, Daring Do sent a digitally written message to the Squid Sisters that the Young Six had returned. Callie quickly responded, saying that they needed to be quiet since their babies were sleeping. Daring Do relayed this to Flurry and they proceeded with their landing sequence. After landing on the edge of the ocean, Flurry and the Young Six made their way to Marie and Andrew’s house. Callie and Michael were there as well, along with four other Inklings that were older than them.
“These are our parents.”, said Callie quietly.
Flurry Heart understood why there were two sets of parents since Callie and Marie were cousins. Callie’s parents stepped forward first and introduced themselves. Her mom had long blue tentacles and her dad had short black tentacles and goggles.
“I’m Callie’s mother, Sally Ammonite.”, said her mom.
“I’m her father, Jerome Cuttlefish.”, said Callie’s dad.
Then it was time for Marie’s parents to introduce themselves. Her mom had a long yellow tentacle that hung down the left side of her head and yellow eyes. Her dad had short gray hair and wore a cap.
“I am Marie’s mother, Iris Ammonite.”, said Marie’s mom.
“I’m her father, Michael Cuttlefish.”, said Marie’s dad.
“Pleased to meet you all.”, said Flurry Heart as she shook hands with all of them.
“They’ve already met Taylor and Lizzie. We put them down to take a nap before you got here.”, said Marie.
“They’re such cute little buttons.”, said Iris with a warm smile.
“Callie and Marie have told us about you guys and how you were on a mission to map areas of space. That must’ve taken some serious bravery.”, said Michael.
“You would be right. It did take bravery and courage to complete that mission. Not to mention, I was the one who helped Callie give birth to Taylor.”, said Smolder.
“That’s what she told me and Jerome. Well done.”, said Sally.
Callie said she noticed that a larger ship had been used to come for the visit, but she didn’t understand why.
“We heard that you are skilled in combat on the ground. We have come to train you in three new fields of combat. They are underwater, air, and space. We have also come to build some shelters and defense turrets in the area in case your world is attacked. This way, you will be protected and you can defend yourselves from enemies.”, explained Flurry Heart.
Everyone was floored by this. Neither Callie, nor Marie knew what to say. Moments later, they turned to their parents.
“Keep an eye on the kids please. We’re taking our new friends to meet the Agents.”, said Callie.
Their parents nodded and then the Squid Sisters led Flurry and the Young Six to the Squidbeak base camp. On the way, they said they had good news and bad news. Flurry asked for the good news first.
“Our grandfather, Craig Cuttlefish, signed a peace treaty with DJ Octavio two weeks ago, thus ending our conflicts with the Octarians. This means they’re joining forces with us to keep our world safe.”, said Callie.
“What’s the bad news?”, asked Smolder.
“Grandpa caught pneumonia two days ago and is in the hospital. We’re afraid that his time is almost up.”, Marie said sadly.
At the base camp, Flurry and the Young Six met the Captain and Agents, 3, 4, and 8, along with two of their friends, Pearl and Marina. After explaining what the training would focus on, the Young Six started running everyone through training exercises until they were ready to try the real thing. Once the Squidbeak Agents had built ships for themselves, they were taught how to take off and land properly before flying into space and shooting targets. They learned how to set targets, open and close their wings, and how to navigate while in space until Flurry decided they were ready. During the training, Callie and Marie would go home each night so they could be with their kids.
After the Agents were trained for water and air, it was time to build the defense turrets. They were placed strategically so that all areas of both cities were well-guarded. Once the training was finished, Flurry and the Young Six built underground strongholds where citizens could take shelter during an attack. In total, the training and construction of the turrets and shelters took only seven weeks, which was quite fast. The Young Six were able to achieve this because they were well-trained and everyone was a fast learner. After this, Callie got a call from her dad that said she and Marie needed to come to the hospital right away. Their grandfather had lost the battle against his sickness and was slowly dying. They rushed to his room and knelt down on both sides of the bed. With his last breath, Craig spoke to Callie and Marie.
“Girls, I am proud of you for doing so well in the Squidbeak Splatoon. I know you’ll continue to do the right thing. I wish you good luck for the future.”, he said weakly before his eyes slid shut.
Callie, Marie, their parents, and their children burst into tears. They knew he had been suffering from his old age, but now he was finally at peace. After the memorial, Callie decided that the Squidbeak Splatoon should no longer be top-secret. Marie, the Captain, and the other Agents all agreed and they put out an advertisement. They had numerous Inklings and Octarians fill out enlistments, and all of them were accepted.
Once an Air-Force and a Navy were formed, the Young Six personally trained specific Inklings and Octarians to work the defense turrets. They succeeded and were certified in only four days. Once it was established that the world was ready to defend against unexpected attacks, Flurry and the Young Six left to return home to Equus. After returning, they sent word to the PAW Patrol and their allies in the Disney Fleet to update them on their progress and that they’d made new friends to possibly recruit as allies.