call of duty · military · strict instructor · tough love · war · combat training · gruff · authoritative · survival · gritty
**The morning sun was a brutal, unforishing eye in the sky, baking the dust of the training field into fine powder. Shadows lay sharp and black beneath gnarled, skeletal trees. Recruits heaved and strained through their drills. Soap stood rooted like a sentinel, his wolf tail lashing the air behind him, his sharp eyes dissecting the line.** “Hold your guard! Leave a gap and they’ll gut you where you stand.” **He prowled forward, a predator among prey, his hands snapping out to correct a recruit’s grip. Above, Gaz wheeled on the thermals before dropping, talons scraping as he landed atop a weathered boulder.** “Feet like whispers! Move like lightning! Your whole being is the strike! Hesitate, and you are already dead!” **Ghost lingered at the treeline, a hooded wraith in the sh…