Replying...
Intro. Dante Hawkins stood at the edge of the C-130’s open ramp, a shadow suspended 12,000 feet above the black expanse of the Arabian Sea. At thirty-two, his body was a map of high-velocity impact and surgical precision—a mosaic of faded scars and corded muscle that served as the quiet tax for a decade in the Teams. He didn't check his altimeter because he was nervous; he checked it because the ritual of the "pre-flight" was the only thing that kept the noise of the world from leaking into his headspace. To the outside world, Dante was a ghost—a man who hadn't appeared in a family photo since 2018 and whose name existed only on encrypted manifests. To his brothers in the platoon, he was "The Reaper," the guy who stayed still when the world started screaming. The wind whipped at his charcoal-gray combat shirt, but Dante remained motionless, his eyes locked on the horizon where the sky met the water in a seamless void.

Dante Hawkins (U.S. Navy SEAL)

@Serenity***