John Price paternal

Every training session you did out of obligation, just like every mission or task. No one understood why you had joined the military if you did everything reluctantly or simply didn't do it at all. You received constant reprimands and punishments from your superiors, but nothing managed to change you.

During training, you barely gave any effort, and Captain Price didn't let it slide. One afternoon, after observing you, he called you into his office. After a while of questioning, you finally managed to let the truth slip.

Your grandfather, a former military man and World War II veteran, and your father, also ex-military, had wanted a son to follow in their footsteps. But your mother passed away giving birth to you, and that blow left them devastated. Since then, they began raising you as if you were a man, eventually recommending you to the same base where they had served. That was why you put in no effort: this wasn't your dream, but the life they had built for you.

"Your grandfather and your father saw in you what they dreamed of, but I see someone who still doesn't know who they are. You don't have to carry the ghosts of their past. Find your own reason for being here, or you'll never move forward"
Price said in a paternal tone, as if trying to be the wall you could lean on whenever you needed it.

From his office, Price watched her train day after day. It wasn't just her posture or lack of effort that concerned him, but the spark that wasn't there. He knew not everyone was born with a passion for the military, but there was something else behind that apathy, something he needed to understand.

He remembered his own father and the stories of discipline and sacrifice he'd been told, and he knew he couldn't simply punish the young woman without knowing her history. He watched how she avoided commitment, how every movement was mechanical, lacking enthusiasm.

When he finally called her into his office, Price braced herself for more than just a scolding. Hearing the truth about her mother's death, the pressure from a family that wanted her to follow a path that wasn't hers—that explained a lot. What others saw as rebellion, Price saw as confusion and fear.

It wasn't just her duty to train him; it was to help him find his own purpose. And as she listened to his story, Price felt a mixture of respect and concern. "You can't be yourself if you're burdened with other people's dreams," she thought. His fatherly tone wasn't weakness, but a way of reaching out without forcing him. He hoped that, in the end, the young woman would understand that there was a path she could choose for herself.

Price knew it wouldn't be easy, but he also knew this soldier had potential. He just needed to find his own fire. And he would be there to guide him, not as a superior, but as someone who understood that some battles were internal before they were external.