Chapter 2- Selection

According to some cultures ghosts punish the living - Unknown Ghost

LOCATION: Spenser Household, Virginia, United States, January 2022

Clay Spenser sat in thought about his future as he held his son Brian for the first time and he felt whole for the first time in months. Now he just has to tell his wife Stella about his career change, without all the classified information.

"Hey babe, I need to talk to you about something. Something pretty big that will affect our entire family.

"What is it"? Said Stella cautiously

I should have talked to you about this, but it was a decision I had to make at the moment and honestly I'm very happy with my decision".

Stella responded with, "You know you can tell me anything. What's going on?"

"Well, after my last mission I was approached by an Army Officer about joining a specialized unit of operators. I accepted and now I'm a part of this new unit which means that officially I'm not a member of Bravo Team anymore". Stella was shocked by this news. Bravo Team was a huge part of their lives.

Clay continued saying "I was specifically chosen by the commander of the unit as well and they only choose the best of the best. You're now looking at Staff Sgt. Clay Spenser."

"Wow. This is a big change. Thank you for telling me. But does your former team know about this?"

Clay responded in kind saying, "No. They don't know and this is a highly secretive unit which means it's classified. There's a problem though. This unit is stationed at Fort Bragg which means that we have to move. I'm sorry, I thought that we would build our life here. But I guess life had other plans."

"Don't worry we'll make it work. All of us are in this together. Both me and Brian".

Clay felt better after his talk with his wife Stella and had just booked his flight to North Carolina in order to meet his new unit and go through the selection process of becoming a Ghost.

LOCATION: Fort Bragg, North Carolina, United States, January 2022

A few days later, Spenser arrived at Fort Bragg and awaited further orders in relation to the training he'll be participating in. He breathed a sigh of relief at the start of a new chapter in his life. He had a feeling of being whole. A strange feeling to say the least. With everything that's happened to get to this point. From the death of Brian Armstrong, his son's namesake, to making it onto Bravo Team, and his friendships particularly with Ray and Sonny. Sometimes the wind blows in a different direction and this is where he had landed.

He didn't know what to expect and felt like a dolphin out of the water. He felt a hand touch his shoulder and saw LTC. Mitchell. He quickly stood at attention.

"At ease, soldier. Let's take a short tour of your new home and then you'll start selection in a week with our other aspiring Ghosts. After the tour, come to my office for your briefing."

As they started walking around he noticed many different sites such as barracks, a shooting range, a mess hall, an obstacle course, and other various buildings and installations. As they headed towards the range, Spenser saw what appeared to be a kill house with four men leaving and another team of four other men waiting to enter once it was reset. He noticed that they wore high tech uniforms with strange blue glasses. LTC. Mitchell saw this and commented, "The team leaving the killhouse is codenamed Predator and the team waiting is Hunter Team. These are some of the best teams that we have. Both these teams are comparable to DEVGRU." Clay's eyes widened at the previous statement. Were these eight men really being compared to all of DEVGRU? The LTC. continued on saying, "Those blue glasses are known as CROSS-COM, a special device that is basically a heads-up display that provides real-time tactical readouts via satellite uplink. Due to the specialized nature of the CROSS-COM only specialized teams like Hunter and Predator are able to all have the device. The only other Ghosts who get it are your team leaders referred to as Ghost Leads." Clay thought in wonder about how the Ghosts had access to technology that is far ahead of not only their enemies but our other tier one units as well. LTC. Mitchell said "We also have access to other special equipment such as magnetic sensors. SMSgt. Marcus Kelso is the NCO-in-charge of our armory explained the magnetic sensor as a device that picks up hostiles and pipes the intel back to the CROSS-COM. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. You'll meet him once you're assigned to your team and have to go to the armory to get equipment."

After that introduction, they proceed to the range where they were met by two other Ghosts. One with a strange looking colored mask and the other wearing a blue striped business casual shirt. The masked man was holding what looked to be an ACR with an M203 Grenade Launcher and the man in the blue shirt had an M4A1 Carbine. LTC. Mitchell started speaking to the two operators and said "Midas, Holt, good to see you".

"Boss!" They both replied as they stood at attention. The LTC. motioned them to stand at ease. "I'd like you to meet our newest operator. Clay Spenser, a former member of DEVGRU".

Both Operators stood there with smirks on their faces as they looked at the newbie. Holt was the first to make a move and held out his hand to shake it. "Nice to meet you Spenser".

Midas did the same thing and said "Welcome to The Group for Specialized Tactics". We'll help show you the ropes if you pass selection".

They stood and started chatting for a few minutes before LTC. Mitchell told him that the tour was essentially over and they now had to go over some things in his office. Then Clay would go to the barracks and start selection.

LOCATION: Spenser Household, North Carolina, United States, July 2022

Clay looked around his new home. The move was chaotic and the members of Bravo Team hadn't taken the news well. But his new family had adjusted for the most part. He looked at his beautiful sleeping wife who looked still and peaceful. He kissed her on the forehead and left the master bedroom. He made his way to Brian's room to check up on his son. The most important thing In his life. But the time is 0500 and he now has to make his way to Fort Bragg.

LOCATION: Fort Bragg, North Carolina, United States, July 2022

He drove his black pickup truck and passed through the gate. As he was driving to the Headquarters building his phone started getting a huge amount of notifications from every major news organization. The caption read "Russian President Vladimir Putin assassinated by rogue elements of the military and government". His eyes widened in shock at this new information. He also received a message from an unknown number saying "Meet in the briefing room in 5 Mikes. There's a situation brewing. Not about Russia". CPT. Brent.

Alright. Hello again y'all. The new chapter is done! Hope y'all liked it and please share with your friends and comment. It would be really appreciated so I can see what I've done right and what I can improve on. Sorry for the lateness in getting this chapter done. Until next time, Ghosts.