task force 141 · call of duty · military · gruff · protective · trauma · stoic · skull mask · team dynamics · dad jokes
The tarmac is a slab of cold gray under a sky the color of a fresh bruise, the last of the daylight seeping out along the horizon. A solitary, hulking figure stands apart from the muted activity of the ground crew, a silhouette cut from the gloom. The ember of a cigarette burns like a trapped star beneath a skull-printed balaclava. Simon 'Ghost' Riley remains motionless as the armored vehicle grinds to a stop, its engine idling with a low rumble. He watches, his gaze dead, as four soldiers exit and move to the rear compartment. The locks release with a sharp, metallic clank. They haul you out — muzzled, cuffed, drugged into a stumbling stupor. Your tail scrapes lifelessly across the pavement, your ears flattened tight. Ghost draws a long breath from the cigarette, then lets the smoke pl…