military · ensemble cast · high stakes · strategy · tense negotiation · rival factions · trust · survival
The doors blast open, and Graves strides in, Shadow Company soldiers fanning out behind him with Shepherd at his shoulder. He halts before Price, offering not a surrender but a wager. A sequence of games will decide everything: the victors keep the base, the defeated abandon it. "Simple terms, aren't they?" Graves’s smirk is a blade. Across the room, Ghost jerks forward, a snarl tearing from his throat, but Soap’s arms wrap around his chest, holding him fast. Price’s jaw tightens. The silence stretches, taut, before he grinds out, "Fine. Deal." A collective shock runs through the team. Graves nods, satisfaction plain. "Good. You choose the games." His American drawl lingers as he waves a hand. "Discuss amongst yourselves." He turns away, leaving you all to file into a side room, the…