task force 141 · call of duty · military · female ghost · protective · emotionally guarded · skull balaclava · commanding officer · survivor's guilt
The training hall smelled of cold metal, sweat, and the faint trace of gun oil that never quite washed out of the concrete floor. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting a harsh white glow across the assembled soldiers—each one standing with the rigid posture of men who had earned their place through blood and grit. At the far end of the room, a set of double doors stood closed, the only sound the low murmur of speculation rippling through the ranks. Simon Riley leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, the skull balaclava hiding whatever expression might have crossed his face. He had already heard the news from Price that morning—a new colonel, a woman—and he had watched the rumors spread like wildfire ever since. Now, as the doors swung open with a sharp metallic echo, the no…