The Ghosts

== The Ghosts ==
The Ghosts, officially known as Task Force: GHOST, is a hostile faction that appears in the "Raider: Last Blood" series.
Led by Michael Connors, Elena Dixon, and later Lucas Wolf, the Ghosts is a highly trained unit of former American Special Forces and Russian Spetsnaz operators that became mercenaries who worked for whoever paid them the best and served as the primary and overarching antagonistic group in the series.
== History ==
In early 2015, most of the American men and women of the Ghosts were soldiers (Infantry and Spec Ops) fighting in Afghanistan. Upon returning from the war after it ended, many of the veterans struggled to find jobs in the civilian workforce or deal with their trauma, but the relationship between them remained strong. Many of the soldiers decided to become mercenaries and traveled around the world.
However, they met a rogue unit of Russian Spetsnaz operators in Russia and after befriending their leader, the two forces joined up together after they took shelter from a defensive onslaught by Russian forces during WW3. They realized that none of them were hurt in the aftermath. They eventually became what's known as the "Ghosts" because a few survivors of the Russian military didn't see their attackers.
The group gradually began attacking small towns and military encampments internationally and slaughtering innocent people and soldiers on Connors' orders. The group was heavily armed with military-grade weaponry and heavily utilized stealth and ambush tactics in attacking and hunting their victims. They appear to all wear personalized metal skull masks to conceal their faces, as well as hoods and they are armed with a variety of weapons from melee weaponry to automatic firearms.
== Biography ==
== Background ==
The Ghosts are a relatively large, but cohesive group of mercenaries that prey upon other groups and settlements by whoever hires them. Like their namesake, they attack their targets with frightening precision and ferocity, striking terror into the hearts of any survivors they might leave behind. 
Being a large group whose members mostly knew each other even before WW3, the Ghosts are shown to have quite strong attachments to one another and display great sadness if they witness one of their slain. They see their group as a surrogate family, and refer to each other as "brother" and "sister". Because of their history, the Ghosts have a strong obsession with unorthodox tactics and will utilize any means to wipe out any group that they come across. As shown with Jay's recruitment, the Ghosts would trap potential recruits into a small shed after torturing them and set it on fire to see if the recruit could escape and if they escaped, they would be recruited and nursed to health. 
In contrast to their numbers, they more than makeup for in skill, which allows them to target groups much larger than themselves. Each member of the Ghosts has military training and is shown to be former special forces operators, allowing them to easily eliminate most targets in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship. Additionally, members of the Ghosts are shown to be extremely tough, able to shrug off stab wounds and even falls from great heights. Nonetheless, the Ghosts are fully aware their smaller group size puts them at a disadvantage, so they will often organize ambushes and utilize hit-and-run tactics instead of fighting larger groups head-on. Only once they isolate their targets will they confront them directly. In combat, the Ghosts often make use of throwing knives to deadly effect to either wound or kill targets.
The group was heavily armed with military-grade weaponry and utilized stealth and ambush tactics in attacking and hunting their enemies. They appear to all wear metal skull-like masks to conceal their faces, as well as hoods.
There are 3 ranks of the Ghosts:
* Soldier - The 1st rank of the Ghosts. The uniform is non-standardized and they wore parts of M81 camouflage pants or dark green cargo pants, a dark green or a flannel hoodie, a dark blue or gray shirt, and combat boots.
* Elite - The 2nd rank of the Ghosts. They wore dark green, tan, and black vests, dark gray cargo pants, beanies, and combat boots.
* Spec Ops - The 3rd rank of the Ghosts. They wore a dark green combat uniform with black combat gear and a balaclava.
== Members ==
* Michael Connors - Leader (formerly/retired/deceased)
* Elena Dixon - Second-in-Command/De-Facto Leader (formerly/retired/deceased)
*Lucas Wolf - De-Facto Leader (formerly/deceased)
*Jay Roberts - Lieutenant (formerly)
*Damien Barrett - Associate (formerly/deceased)
* Martin Adler - Lieutenant/Second-in-Command (formerly/defected to the Hive/deceased)
*Ollie Torres - Sniper/Muscle (deceased)
*Jonathan North - Tracker (deceased)
*Jose Rodrigo - Scout (deceased)
*William Maddox - Knife Specialist (deceased)
*Deacon O'Neill - Close Combat Specialist (deceased)
*Brandon Fisher - Scout (deceased)
*Emile Wells - Scout (deceased)
*Casey Richardson - Planner (deceased)
*Austin Lewis - Sniper (deceased)
* Thomas Brewer - Sniper (deceased/stayed by Adler)
* Patrick Jensen - Engineer (deceased/stayed by Dixon)
* Tyler Pope - Explosives Specialist (deceased/stayed by Dixon)
* Nichols - Hand-to-hand Expert (deceased/stayed by Adler)
* Powell - Priest (deceased/stayed by Dixon)
* Kenneth Shaw - Scout (deceased/stayed by Adler)
* Carver - Pilot (deceased/stayed by Adler)
* Popov - Technician (formerly/stayed by Dixon)
* Chekov - Adler's Second-in-Command/Weapons Expert (formerly/defected to the Hive/deceased)
* Minsky - Cook (formerly/stayed by Dixon/deceased)
* Mikhailov - Heavy Weapons Expert/Muscle (deceased/stayed by Adler)
* 300 Members - Soldier (half stayed with Dixon while half defected with Adler/deceased while on Adler's side)
== Vehicles, Weapons, and Equipment ==
Vehicles
* Ford F-250
* HMMWV
Weapons
Assault Rifles/Sniper Rifles/Submachine Guns
* H&K MP5
* H&K MP7A1
* H&K UMP-45
* H&K G36C/G36K
* H&K HK-416
* FN SCAR-L/SCAR-H
* FN FNC
* SIG 552
* Colt M4A1
* Colt M16A4
* Remington 700PSS
* Barrett M82A1
Shotguns
* Remington 870
* Mossberg 590A1
* AA-12
* USAS-12
* Benelli M4 Super 90
Pistols
* SIG SAUER P226R (main sidearm)
Grenades/Heavy Weaponry
* M67 Grenade
* M18 Flash
* Milkor MGL
* MK19 GL
* RPG-7
* Browning M2-HB
* M60-E3
* MG-42
== Trivia ==
* The Ghosts are the only faction that Jay fought within the "Last Blood" series.