The war room was buzzing with activity. Azul had pulled up every piece of intel on the underwater black site, while the rest of the team gathered around. This was it. The final rescue mission before they could fully turn their sights on Sable.
Jeffrie, Trice, and Ray stood at the front, already dressed in tactical dive suits, checking their gear as Azul briefed the entire team on what lay ahead.
Azul tapped the screen, bringing up detailed profiles of the three remaining targets.
The Final Three Targets
✔ Nia Caldwell – Former covert operative, handpicked for deep cover missions. Specialized in stealth, hacking, and infiltration. Presumed dead three years ago. Without her expertise, there's no way to break into Sable's main headquarters unnoticed.
✔ Idris Faheem – Weapons engineer and tech specialist. Designed some of the most dangerous experimental weapons before going underground. He knows the blueprints to Sable's strongest weapon caches.
✔ Tasha Grant – Close-quarters combat specialist, former black-ops soldier. Survived against enhanced super-soldiers in past missions. If she's alive, she's the kind of person they need when the final war begins.
The room went silent as the gravity of this mission settled in.
Scarlett leaned against the table, arms crossed. "So, we're talking about **the best infiltrator, the best weapons engineer, and a fighter who can take on enhanced soldiers?" She whistled. "No wonder Sable locked them in a damn underwater vault."
Sophia looked at Jeffrie. "Are we sure they're even alive?"
Azul nodded. "I intercepted encrypted transmissions confirming all three are still contained. But Sable isn't keeping them locked away forever. He's been experimenting on them."
The air grew heavy.
Raven frowned. "What kind of experiments?"
Azul's voice was tight. "…I don't know."
Jeffrie exhaled through his nose. "Then we find out. And we bring them back."
Ray cracked his neck. "So, how the hell are we pulling this off?"
Azul flicked her fingers, bringing up the schematics of the underwater facility.
"This place is called Leviathan. It's an off-grid black site, built 3,000 meters under the ocean surface. No direct access except by heavily guarded submersibles. It's surrounded by drones, underwater mines, and armed sentries."
Trice shook his head. "Man, y'all really love sending me into impossible missions, huh?"
Scarlett smirked. "Wouldn't be fun otherwise."
Jeffrie turned to the room. "This isn't just a retrieval. This is an extraction under fire. We need to be fast, silent and hit hard. We don't leave without them."
Ray crossed his arms. "And what's our exit plan?"
Azul hesitated. "That… is the tricky part."
She brought up another screen—a massive underwater trench leading directly beneath the facility.
"The entire structure is pressure-sealed. The only exit is a heavily fortified docking station. But if we can detonate charges on these support beams, we can cause a controlled collapse—forcing the emergency evacuation pods to deploy. That's our way out."
Sophia's brows furrowed. "And what if it doesn't work?"
Azul smirked. "Then Jeffrie, Ray, and Trice will have to figure out how to hold their breath for a really long time."
The room was silent.
Then Trice clapped his hands together. "Welp. Looks like I'm finally learning to swim."
A chuckle rippled through the room, cutting the tension.
But they all knew.
This was the hardest mission yet.
Jeffrie exhaled. "Gear up. We move in one hour."
Just as the team was breaking off to prepare, the sliding doors to the war room opened unexpectedly.
A man in oily coveralls, clearly one of the engineering techs, walked in, mid-sentence while talking to someone outside.
"Look, I don't care what Azul says, you can't just—"
He froze as everyone in the room turned to stare at him.
He blinked. "…Oh. Uh. Am I interrupting something?"
Azul sighed. "Ethan, what the hell are you doing here?"
Ethan—the team's lead engineer—rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I was just passing by when I overheard something about a deep-sea black site and y'all trying to breach it with nothing but your lungs."
Jeffrie narrowed his eyes. "And?"
Ethan smirked. "I have a better way."
The Kraken – A Submarine Like No Other
Ethan pulled up a holographic blueprint, revealing a state-of-the-art submersible that looked unlike any traditional submarine.
"This… is the Kraken."
The sleek, black vessel had an angular, almost predatory design. Unlike standard submarines, it had no periscope, and no visible sonar arrays— because it didn't need them.
"It's an undetectable, pressure-resistant deep-sea war machine. Can't be tracked by sonar, can't be pinged by radar, and it's built to withstand anything—including a damn nuclear bomb."
The team stared at the projection in stunned silence.
Ray raised an eyebrow. "Wait, wait, wait. You built a stealth submarine and didn't tell us?"
Ethan grinned. "Hey, it wasn't finished yet."
Azul crossed her arms. "And now it is?"
Ethan shrugged. "Mostly. We've run diagnostics, and it's ready to roll. It's got enough room for eighty people, fully stocked, and it's fast as hell."
The war room stayed silent for a beat as everyone processed what Ethan had just dropped on them.
Ray crossed his arms, eyes narrowing at the holographic blueprint. "And we're just supposed to trust that this thing won't fold like a soda can when we hit max depth?"
Ethan smirked, unfazed. "You're cute when you're skeptical." He tapped a button, zooming in on the Kraken's reinforced hull composition. "Don't worry—this thing could survive a nuke, let alone a little pressure shift."
Jeffrie wasn't convinced yet. "And if something does go wrong?"
Ethan leaned forward, his grin widening. "Then I hope you're good at holding your breath."
The team exchanged looks. Trice chuckled. "Man, I was kidding about the swimming thing earlier."
Scarlett smirked. "Not anymore."
Ethan's tone shifted as he pulled up a schematic of the Kraken's EMP Blaster, his usual smirk giving way to something a little more… devious.
"Now, let's talk about this bad boy."
A pulse wave animation rippled across the screen, spreading out from the Kraken like a shockwave.
"You ever seen what happens when you fry an entire security grid?" Ethan asked, glancing at the team. "Most EMPs are temporary—systems reboot, lights flicker back on. But this? This is a death sentence for electronics. If we fire this, Sable's entire operation down there?" He snapped his fingers. "Gone. Permanently."
Sophia's eyes widened slightly. "You mean…"
Ethan nodded. "Every camera, every drone, every damn piece of tech they've got? It won't just go offline—it'll never turn back on."
Jiro exhaled sharply. "That's one hell of a blackout."
Ayana smirked. "Hope they brought candles."
Ethan swiped the screen, pulling up a simulation of the Kraken in motion.
"And let's talk about speed."
A side-by-side comparison appeared: a standard military submarine vs. the Kraken.
The military sub turned with all the grace of a drunk whale, sluggish and predictable. Meanwhile, the Kraken? It twisted and sliced through the water like a panther, banking sharply, cutting through the depths like it owned the place.
"Most subs move like cargo ships," Ethan continued. "This one moves like a goddamn fighter jet. If we need to dip? We're out before they even know where to aim."
Ray whistled low. "Alright. I'm listening."
Jeffrie exhaled. "Alright. Let's suit up."
Ethan grinned as he pulled up the schematics again, zooming out to reveal something even crazier.
"This ain't just a sub." His fingers danced across the interface, switching between deep-sea schematics, aerial thruster systems, and high-orbit capabilities. "This thing can fly."
Silence.
Then Ray let out a slow, stunned laugh. "Nah. You're lying."
Ethan smirked. "Nope. Kraken is an adaptive transport vessel. Deep-sea? Of course. But if we need to surface, she's got built-in thrusters powerful enough to lift us straight into the sky."
Trice narrowed his eyes. "Wait… how high we talkin'?"
Ethan's grin widened. "Space."
The room exploded.
Scarlett threw her hands up. "Oh, now you're just showing off."
Sophia blinked. "Wait—are you saying this thing is a damn spaceship?"
Ethan's voice was pure smug. "I'm saying, if we ever needed an escape plan that didn't involve Earth? Kraken could take us beyond the atmosphere."
Jaws dropped.
✔ Deep-Sea Domination – "Pressure-resistant, invisible to sonar, can outmaneuver anything underwater."
✔ Flight Mode – "Transition thrusters let us launch from the ocean straight into the air like a damn spaceship."
✔ Space-Ready – "Heat shielding and adaptive oxygen systems mean we could survive in high orbit if we really wanted to."
✔ Luxury Interior – 5-Star Hotel, But Better – Ethan smirked, flipping to the interior layout of the Kraken. Instead of cramped submarine corridors, the hologram showed sleek, high-tech living spaces, a full rec room, a training bay, and even a damn bar.
"You think I built a war machine just to make y'all suffer?" Ethan grinned, arms spread like he was unveiling a five-star resort instead of a tactical juggernaut.
He chuckled. "Nah. Kraken comfortably fits 80 people—not packed like sardines, either. We're talking private quarters, soundproof walls, top-tier tech, the best food storage you've ever seen. Hell, there's even a heated zero-g pool for stress relief."
Ezra blinked. "So… we basically have a mobile HQ that can go from the bottom of the ocean to outer space?"
Ethan clapped his hands, beaming. "Finally, someone gets it!"
He stepped back, pride lighting his face with rare clarity.
"This isn't just a ship. It's a sanctuary."
"I built it so we'd never have to run again."
His voice dropped, more serious now.
"You want to hide? You can. But if the enemy comes looking?"
He looked them each in the eye.
"Then they're the ones who should be afraid. Because this time, we're not backing down. We're not scattered. We're united ."
He gestured to the massive hull behind him.
"This time—we have a home. One that bites back."
Jeffrie, still taking all of this in, finally spoke. His voice was even, but there was undeniable approval.
"This changes everything."
Ethan smirked. "That's the point."
Azul was already adjusting the mission plan. "Alright, now we don't just have a stealth entry—we have a damn ghost ship. No one's stopping us."
Ray laughed. "Man, we went from breaking into an underwater prison to stealing our people like gods descending from the heavens."
Jeffrie turned to the team. His voice was steel.
"We finish this."
Silence followed.
Then movement.
Trice was the first to turn, calling over his shoulder, "You heard him. Let's start packing."
Ray clapped his hands together, grinning. "Finally. I've been waiting to stop living out of a goddamn duffel bag."
Sophia and Scarlett were already heading for the weapons lockers, coordinating logistics with Azul through comms. Naomi and Izzy moved fast, helping load the encrypted drives and sensitive tech. Camila and Nyah organized the medical crates while Lily checked every vitals kit twice over.
Inside the compound, the once-chaotic operation turned into a well-oiled exodus—equipment cases locked, bunk rooms cleared, data transferred, and power systems shut down one by one.
No more hideouts.
No more running.
Ethan stood near the loading ramp, watching with a rare kind of quiet satisfaction as they moved. His chaos had always masked brilliance—but this? This was the purpose.
Scarlett passed him, dragging a weapons case. "You really built all this?"
Ethan shrugged. "Built it for all of you."
She gave him a look that said she understood more than she let on.
One by one, they boarded the Kraken—not just as soldiers, but as survivors who finally had a stronghold to call their own.