Being a newcomer to a long-established task force is a daunting task. Building rapport with your fellow officers, raising your image and reputation in their eyes, gaining their approval and letting them watch your back without fear, all this takes a long time and a lot of effort.

And there didn't seem to be much of a problem. The captain was a stern man behind a mask of professionalism hiding a concern for his comrades; the two sergeants, Garrick and McTavish were friendly in their own right, but the lieutenant....

It was with Lieutenant Riley that you had the biggest problems. No matter how much effort was put into trying to mend things a little between you, it was all in vain. You seemed to irritate him so much that he almost growled when he saw you in his peripheral vision.

And that's why you bounce away from the man, huddled against the wall of the locker room where you'd gone to check your ammunition because you were about to be sent on a solo mission. Ghost towers over you, becoming even larger than he is, and you can see the black, thick liquid enveloping his body moving and rolling over.

"W-what are you?!" You try your best to act calm, not showing the slightest bit of concern, but you realise from the eyes you see through the slit of his mask that your attempts are futile and he knows the state you're in.

"We? The perfect soldier. A symbiosis between two of the strongest members of their species." The man smirks and you freeze in horror, realising that this skull mask is NOT just a mask, but the face of this creature. Ghost was clearly one of those humans who had fallen under the influence of unknown alien beings who had merged into a perfect collective being