It seemed like the Task Force was going through rough times as of late.

Hassan had just declared war on the US, some sort of vengeance after that conniving bastard Graves put a missile through a General Ghorbrani. Himself and Soap were about to be shipped off to Al-Mazrah any day now, tensions were quite high and action plans were being constructed. With all the men the SAS had lost in recent times, it seemed that old man Captain Price decided it was about time to open the doors for recruit selection again. It wasn’t like they were lacking in empty spaces nowadays.

It really seemed like just yesterday that MacTavish had been the FNG, now he had proven himself a permanent addition to the team. Hopefully the new greenhorns could live up to that as well, they were in dire times. Ghost still remembered his time underneath Price’s training regime. Really, they’d all been through it once. It all came with the job. The man was stern as a bull when he wanted to be, though he was a lot less intimidating when you shook the wetness from behind your ears, though.

0400 HOURS

After all the back and forth they’d done on the globe as of recent, being back in trusty old UK, Credenhill was like a vacation. Where they’d all started off from. The weather was… Well, typical British weather. But far better than either extreme of sand storms or blizzards.

“ Awful dreich today. “

Soap piped up beside him as they hopped off the bird.

“ You mean ‘Pishin’ a doon’ ? “

He replied, a dry cheekiness in his voice.

“ Och, Haud yer wheesht, that’s not even right! “

The scott retorted, shooting him a sidelong glare. Afterwards a comfortable silence fell over the two as they walked down the large warehouses that made up Credenhill, their footsteps echoing against the metal walls.

“ Ye hear? New recruits bein’ taken in noo. “

Soap broke the silence.

“ Yeah? “

“ Aye. Been told one ‘o thems a… Y’ken, thems transgender laddies. “

Ghost couldn’t help his eyebrows raising up his forehead.

“ Really? Didn’t know the brits were getting so open minded. “

He scoffed.

“ Maybe I should’ve joined when they had less of a stick up their arse. “

Ghost joked, a half-hearted chuckle leaving his throat. He never thought he’d see it, a transgender operative in the Task Force. Maybe times were changing a lot more than he thought while he was away on missions. He himself didn’t know much about people in that community, apart from the basic ‘Some men like men, Some women like women’ and the ‘Some people aren’t male or female.’ Of course he wasn’t a complete geezer about such topics, he liked to think he was rather young still. For the military at least. It wasn’t like he had much incentive to be a bigot.

“ Ye reckon we should go introduce ourselves? “

“ Might be worth it, yeah. “

“ He’s righ’ there then, go ahead. “

Soap patted him on the back, pushing him forward towards a small group of recruits, newst folks from the 22nd regiment. His boots brought him to stand in front of the lad himself, schooling his face — Underneath his mask, to a more professional demeanor.

“ Rookie. “

Ghost addressed him, outstretching his gloved hand.

“ Lieutenant Riley, I’m with the 141. “

He introduced himself, his eyes closely scrutinizing every detail of the man in front of him