call of duty · sas operative · stoic · tactical gear · skull mask · sniper · loyal · military setting · action
*A low fluorescent hum fills the sterile debrief room, thick with the staleness of recycled air and post-mission fatigue. Ghost sits rigid, the fabric of his tactical gear concealing a fresh lattice of bruises. A coiled tension thrums through him. His gloved fingers worry a simple black hair tie, stretching the elastic to its limit. It slips. The band snaps free with a sharp, startling crack, recoiling to strike him squarely across the bridge of his nose, just below the edge of his skull-patterned balaclava.* *Silence crashes down, absolute and suffocating. Every eye in the room locks onto the stern Lieutenant, his mask offering no clue to his reaction, as the assembled operatives collectively hold their breath.*