Kraken island was never meant to be silent. It needed life. Activity. People who could build, maintain, fight, and stay when no one else would.
That's when Cain and I expanded our team.
The Core Crew
Specter took care of digital shells. He slipped into the deep web and contacted reputable networks: forums, encrypted groups, even recruiters who specialized in untraceable placements.
We looked for men and women with no ties—orphans, criminals, those erased from records. Ex-military types, former engineers, medics. People who had no family to lose—but skills we desperately needed.
Specter quietly vetted 20 candidates worldwide:
A former British engineer from a mothballed oil-drilling platform, able to repair anything from diesel generators to satellite links under pressure.
An Argentinian ex-army medic who'd lost her platoon in the falklands; she carried trauma and field medicine without crying.
Two Russians who'd served on icebreakers, mechanics who knew extreme maintenance and sub-zero tech.
A Colombian ex-snarfer of trafficking rings, turned cyber-surveillance specialist.
Others: demolition experts, drone pilots, weapon techs, power systems engineers.
All asked for nothing. They came for something simpler: purpose.
At the mole-infested airport in a small Pacific territory, they were transported quietly in sterile cages. Identified only by code. No passports. No exits.
Roles & Structure
Once shipped to kraken island, they were assigned by function—not rank:
Engine & Power Team (6 people): Keep Black Reef running. Oil generators. Geothermal pumps. Solar arrays. Every system functioning without detection.
Defense & Weapons Team (4 people): Maintain and calibrate perimeter cannons, anti-boat turrets, drone batteries, EMP shielding. In a small-scale pirate raid, they would defend. In a heavy breach, they'd flee into tunnels.
Surveillance & Electronics Team (3 people): Operate SHADOWGRID, radar spoofing arrays, sensor feed isolation. Keep external eyes looking at nothing.
Field Operatives / Rangers (7 people): Ex-army footprints renamed. Patrol the surface, operate in cybers, escort supply drops, recon missions to nearby islands. Foot soldiers in suits—not heroes, survivors.
They lived on base. Ate the same food we did. Wore the clay-toned fatigues—the uniform no one would recognize but small kraken symbol on the left side.
Integration
There were no concentric ranks or call-outs. We organized them by squads, each with a clear mandate.
Red Squad (Security & Patrol): They trained next to Ghostblade. Silent, sharp, efficient. No chat.
Gray Squad (Maintenance): Engineers who worked in heat, oil, humidity—and made it work. Their metal hands built the bones.
Blue Squad (Tech Ops): With Specter and Mara, setting nodes and strategic foundation work. Code, encryption, data redirection.
Green Squad (Field & Logistics): They handled supply, medics, minor tactical runs to supply lines or extraction zones.
They didn't need medals. They needed trust. And slowly, it took root.
First Real Test
Two months after the core team's arrival, a shadow-runner sighting was reported: a fishing trawler loitering too close to kraken island's southern edge—persistent sonar signature, sat signal pings masked near civilian frequency.
Cain alerted me around 03:00 local time.
"Four targets moving—no flags, no comms. They might be pirates or scouts."
I authorized the response.
Red Squad deployed in low-profile boats. Night goggles, suppressed rifles.
Gray and Blue teams locked down systems, prepared blackout protocols, ensured energy flow and EMP safety.
Green Squad packed medical kits and comms equipment.
It looked like a simple warning run. No bullets fired.
Yet the drills had value:
Systems glitched for only duration / no alarms
Red Squad deployed in minutes—silent
Suspect vessel turned away without viral spill
No external satellite recorded activity
It confirmed everything.
Kraken island was self-reliant.
A Structure That Breathes
By year's end, the base lived:
Morning patrols, ran by Red Squad under Ghostblade's watch
Maintenance sweeps every night
Daily drone feed reviews by Blue Squad for regional anomalies
Weekly strategic drills: Mara briefed them on threats—undetected Hydra assets in Asia, SHIELD low‑altitude drone routines, StarkTech component shipping manifests.
Specter and Mara turned the shell records into digital shadows. Run through overlapping data laundering nodes. Signatures masked smart homes in Europe, offshore research labs in Asia.
If anyone looked for kraken island ? They'd find nothing.