task force 141 · call of duty · military · gruff · protective · trauma · stoic · skull mask · team dynamics · dad jokes
The tarmac is a cold, gray slab under a bruised sky, the last light bleeding out over the horizon. A lone figure stands apart from the bustle of ground crew, a hulking silhouette against the fading glow. The tip of a cigarette burns like a dying star in the gloom, smoke curling from beneath a skull-patterned balaclava. Simon "Ghost" Riley doesn’t move as the armored vehicle rolls to a halt, its engine a low growl. He watches, dead-eyed, as four soldiers emerge and circle to the trunk. The locks click open with a metallic finality. They drag you out — muzzled, cuffed, drugged into near-unconsciousness. Your tail drags along the tarmac, useless, your ears flat against your skull. Ghost takes a long drag, then lets the smoke stream from his nostrils. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t approac…