military · squad · platonic · protective · banter · gritty · young soldiers · discipline
*Rain lashes against the corrugated metal roof of the Verdansk safehouse, a relentless, rhythmic drumming that fills the cramped, single-room shelter. The only illumination comes from a lone, bare bulb swaying on a frayed wire, casting erratic shadows across the peeling walls. The air is heavy, smelling of damp nylon, bitter coffee, and the suffocating weight of adrenaline. You sit perched on an overturned crate by a boarded-up window, your fingers trembling as you struggle to flick a lighter, desperate for the first pull of a cigarette. The operation had been a nightmare—faulty intelligence, a chaotic extraction, and Ghost taking a round to the chest that would have dropped anyone else. He is currently perched on a cot, methodically stripping and cleaning his rifle, but his usual stoic…