This version of Ghoaptober was created by @spadesandshovels
This one is a pre-relationship, Alternate First Meeting, type of deal.
Ghost was sat in Price’s office, not for want of company, but because Price had called him in then promptly got distracted by cussing out his insurrecting printer. When the machine had finally ceded to giving Price the paper he wanted -with legible text- he turned to address Ghost.
“We’ve got a new member coming in.” He said, slapping the paper into the dossier then handing the folder across to Ghost.
“Really?” Ghost skepticized, “We got time for a F.N.G right now?”
“John MacTavish, S.A.S. Sniper, Demolitions. Goes by ‘Soap’.” Price informed him, “Going by the amount of commendations he’s got his head on straight, and going by the amount of reprimands he’s not too much of an arse.”
Price watched Ghost open the folder, skim reading and rapidly flipping through the pages.
“I met him once, seemed like a good man,” Price spoke, keeping his tone idle, “And Shepherd wants him on the team.”
“O’course that’s it.” Ghost scoffed. Shepherd had a habit of elevating men he said had ‘potential’. The only potential Ghost had seen in the few he’d met was the potential to be a pain in his ass. They'd been lucky so far that the General had been mostly keeping his nose out of Price’s new task force, but it seemed their grace period was over.
“He a shifter or a one-skin?” Ghost asked, unable to find the relevant page in the dossier.
Price raised a slow eyebrow at his Lieutenant, “Shifter.” He answered, with a hefty undertone of ‘at least pretend you’re smarter than you look’.
General Shepherd was of the firm and loud opinion that Shifters were far superior to Statics. He would have never recommended someone that wasn’t a Shifter.
“What is he?” Ghost asked, closing the folder and tossing it onto the Captain’s desk.
“Not sure, just know he’s a Shifter.” Price shrugged, leaning back in his chair and pulling a cigar from his desk drawers to hold between his teeth, “I was told that the documentation was ‘under revision’ and it’d be forwarded when it was fixed.”
“The fuck does that mean,” Ghost demanded, he didn’t like bad intel, but if he knew it was bad it was still better than nothing. He could usually glean something by looking between the lines at least. Couldn’t do that with a blank page.
“Search me, Riley,” Price spread his empty hands, “You can ask him in-” he glanced at his watch “-half an hour. He gets in at O’nine hundred.”
Eight-Fifty A.M found Ghost staring down the transport approaching the base’s tarmac. He watched every soul that exited, his eyes catching on one man that was flagrantly flouting regulations by having his hair shaved into a warhawk of all things. His dread and intuition were proved correct when the man veered away from the building to approach Ghost.
“Lieutenant Riley?” He asked, hoisting his bag higher on his shoulder and holding out a hand for Ghost to shake, “I’m Sergeant MacTavish, Sir.”
“You have your personnel file?” Ghost demanded, ignoring the outstretched hand.
“Aye, I do.” MacTavish answered and dropped his bag to open it, presumably to retrieve the requested papers. Ghost could appreciate that he didn’t seem put out by his gruff words.
MacTavish handed over his file, it was heftier than the one Price had, thick with medical records and untruncated mission reports. Ghost rifled through it, willingly ignoring MacTavish who had -for lack of any other instructions- chosen to stand at attention before him. Finding what he was looking for, Ghost read it with hungry eyes.
SubSpecies: Homo Sapiens Bestialis, Secondary Classification: Genus - Canis.
The photo attached looked wolf-like to Ghost, but as MacTavish’s file omitted his species he could be an overgrown pomeranian for all Ghost knew.
“We were told this section is being revised, and didn’t receive it.” Ghost condescended to inform the Sergeant, tilting the page for the man to see the section in question.
“Yes, Sir.” MacTavish’s tone was much more formal, Ghost assumed MacTavish felt that the Lieutenant wasn’t worth trying to be friendly with anymore and forced himself to not regret it, “I petitioned for the rights to be classified under the species Canis Lupus, Sir”
“Why were you not already classed Canis Lupus,” Ghost interrogated, snapping the folder closed and tucking it securely under his arm.
“Because when I signed on I classed myself as Canis Lupus Anglicus, and was denied, Sir.” MacTavish answered, dutifully keeping any personal opinions he may have about that particular decision out of his tone.
“Is it ruled extinct?” Ghost questioned, starting to understand.
“The Canis Lupus Anglicus, Sir?” MacTavish clarified, continuing at Ghost’s affirming nod, “Yes, Sir. It’s ruled extinct, Sir.”
Ghost nodded again, more to himself than MacTavish, it all made sense now. There was an outdated rule in place, that followed the -thoroughly disproven- idea that Shifters could only be extant animals. Price himself was undeniably an Irish Elk and his papers read ‘SecCla: Subfamily - Cervinae’, as both his genus and species were ruled extinct.
Ghost was glad that the Brown Bear wasn’t even close to going extinct, he knew a poor schmuck that shifted into a Western Black Rhino who’d had to have all his papers revised after they were ruled extinct, because that made perfect sense.
“Follow me,” Ghost commanded and turned to lead the Sergeant to Price’s office.
The Captain would get a kick out of meeting a fellow victim of the Brass’s stupidity.
For my Shifter AU there's two Subspecies of Homo Sapiens, the Homo Sapiens Bestialis, and the Homo Sapiens Constans. Or the Shifters and the Statics as they're commonly called. 'One-Skin' is not very polite slang for a Static.
So, a Static's papers would read: SuSp: HSC SecCla: NA
All the 141 are Shifters.
Price - Irish Elk (Subfamily: Cervinae | Genus: Megaloceros[extinct] | Species: M. Giganteus[extinct])
Ghost - Eurasian Brown Bear (Genus: Ursus | Species: U. Arctos | Subspecies: U. A. Arctos)
Gaz - Carpathian Lynx (Genus: Lynx | Species: L. Lynx | Subspecies: L. L. Carpathicus)
Soap - British Wolf (Genus: Canis | Species: C. Lupus | Subspecies: C. L. Anglicus[extinct])
Confession Time! There is no such Subspecies as the 'Canis Lupus Anglicus'. When I was researching animals for the 141 to be I really liked the idea of Soap being the extinct British wolf, but they don't have a Subspecies name, so entire gimmick that this entry hinged on wouldn't have worked. So, I just made one up.
Here's my research on the British wolf: The British Wolf is a breed that was driven out of Britain in the 1500s and hunted to extinction in Scotland in the 1800s. Commonly thought to be a variation of the Eurasian wolf(Canis Lupus Lupus), it may have also been its own distinct subspecies of the gray wolf(Canis Lupus), as it shows distinct physical differences to the Eurasian wolf. An almost entire skull with missing teeth was discovered in Kents Cavern, Devon, by a Mr Mac Enery. The skull was exactly equal in size to that of an Arctic wolf, the only notable differences being that the sectorial molar was slightly larger and the lower border of the jaw was more convex.
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