The Life of an ATLAS Boy

SENTINEL Task Force

Why? Why did you bomb San Fran? And now look what you did! All your Operators are leaving you now, Jonathan. They know what your Plan is. But the question is; will you do it? It will get back at what damage Andrew, Dylan and especially John had already caused. But it'll take the life of Dawn as well...
Look at yourself! Your own niece betrays you! I'm guessing Andrew told her what you failed to do. Dammit. If only I could've prevented it earlier... no matter. Now, you have a new objective for your men.
Wipe out SENTINEL.
"Captain DeRose."
"Ah, General Irons. I haven't heard from you in a while. What's the orders?"
"Since Captain Gideon betrayed us, you're in charge."
"Sir, I'm flattered."
"Funny. Take a good amount of our best men; Soldiers, Snipers, Assassins, anyone, and wipe out the SENTINEL base. Kill anyone and everyone on-sight. Is that clear?"
"But sir! Your niece and John and Gideon-"
"I don't care. Kill them. All."
"Yes sir. As you please."
***
The feeling of being led down the hallways of the SENTINEL Base by your own ATLAS comrades is the oddest feeling ever. Every single SENTINEL we passed stared at us oddly. I guess they haven't seen ATLAS personnel wanting to fight against ATLAS. My sunglasses are dangling in my hand, and my fake gun in the other. We all walk towards the Control, Me, Dawn and all the others that came followed Mitchell and Gideon. When we came to the doors, the SENTINEL standing guard all raised their AK12's, but Gideon nor Mitchell flinched.
"We come to speak with General McDonnell," Gideon stated. The Soldiers still didn't move. Then, the doors behind them opened, and General McDonnell appeared.
"Ah, I see," he sounds surprised. "The infamous ATLAS Captain Gideon, Sergeant Mitchell and Corporal John have come here. But why?"
"Irons has a plan to kill off the whole world," Gideon said, a tinge of worry in his voice. "And we are all against it. We have his niece," he points to Dawn, and she moves closer to me, "and she knows all about the Plan. We have lots of ATLAS' best Soldiers that want to see Irons dead."
"Alright then," General McDonnell scanned each of us. He walks down our ranks, and when he reaches Dawn, he holds out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Irons."
"Actually," Dawn says excitedly, "I'd prefer Mrs. Olsteen."
Shocked, I look down at Dawn, and she smiles at me.
"Aren't you a bit too young?" McDonnell asks.
"Well, the world is going to end, so why not?" Dawn giggles. McDonnell laughs a bit himself, then continues walking. How can I get married already?! I think as I stand smiling at Dawn. I mean, we've been together for six months, and we haven't talked about marrying each other in the future once!
McDonnell walks back to Gideon.
"Welcome to SENTINEL," he says as he shakes Gideon's hand.
*
It's about a week after we joined SENTINEL and my dorm is quiet. It's the sixteenth of March, and the sun shines through my window. I roll over to cover my eyes and I cover them with my pillow when someone jumps on me. They cover my face with the blanket, but they can't resist laughing. Dawn.
I laugh back, and get up and roll her up in the blanket. I reach for my pillow, but I can't find it. That's when I get hit on the side of the head. Dawn must've grabbed my pillow. I act dead as I lay motionless on the bed.
"John?" Dawn tried to shake me awake. When I feel she's close to me, I reach up, grab her hips and roll her so that I'm on too of her.
"Happy six months," Dawn giggles as she kisses me.
"Happy six months beautiful," I say back. I feel Dawn's hands on my back, slowly putting me on top of her, where we kiss and hold it, only moving our lips to get into a better kissing position. I get my hands around Dawn's back, and I roll her on top of me. I look at her, and her at me, and we kiss once again. I take my hands and move them down her hips, eventually I feel the hem of her shirt. I lift it up a little, and put my hands on her back. Dawn kisses me harder, our lips pressed tightly. The door opened, and Dawn quickly rolled off me.
"You're welcome for telling you!" Gideon yells as his back is turned to us. When he turns around, he's in rage. "Fucking SENTINEL. Can't accept that some ATLAS joined their cause... gear up, you two. Wheels up at 1130."
I checked my watch. 11:00! I got up, and Dawn followed behind me. I turn around, grab Dawn's waist and pulled her close. Then, she started to cry.
"What's wrong?" I ask her as I take my hand and put it on the back of her head.
"I wanted to tell you," Dawn sobbed, "but now you know..."
"Know what?"
"I became a Soldier."
I let the words sink in. I became a Soldier. I became a Soldier... Dawn is now a Soldier...
I just stare, and an odd little foreshadow comes to me;
Dawn, dressed in full armor, is holding the second line with me. We are invading ATLAS HQ. Bullets are flying everywhere, along with the mix of rockets, lasers and grenades. The street is raised due to the violence, and I put my back to it. A stolen XS1 Goliath fires, and when all seems safe, two MAHEM rockets plow into the machine. Gideon yells from the front line, and we all move. We move into the building, and gun down anyone we see. Dawn and I follow Gideon and Mitchell, leaving the rest to clear out the lobby. We go up flights of stairs, and me and Dawn fall behind Gideon and Mitchell. We are at the top floor. Dawn and I kiss. A door opens, and I realize a second too late that it was an EMP grenade. Everything goes down. I take off my helmet, and that's when I see Irons, holding Dawn in one arm and a RW 1 in the other. It's pointed at her head. I draw my MP443 Grach and aim it at Irons. However, Irons pulled first.
"John?" Dawn waves her hand in front of my face. "You ok?"
"Huh?" I'm confused, then I remember. "Oh, ya. I'm fine!" Dawn looks at me oddly, but soon smiles. "Alright, handsome," she says cheerfully, her face lighting up. She kisses me on the cheek, then walks out. Oh, Dawn, I think as I open up my closet. Why did you join?
I put on my shirt and pants, then step into my exo. I strap up, put on my gloves and shin guards, then put on my new helmet; it's a SENTINEL Operator Helmet with a red stripe going down the center, only to signify me being an old ATLAS. The helmet is painted all jet black (the teeth just didn't seem to be me), and combining all that with my old ATLAS gear makes me look like a total badass. I grab my BAL-27 and MP443 Grach, and get ready to go wherever Gideon wants to go. I walk to the hangar, where just about every Soldier is ready. In the middle, Gideon gives a speech.
"We'll be divided into three teams," he says while looking every single man and woman in the eyes. "All assault-class exos, you're with me. We'll attack from the front. Get ready to get dirty. All specialist-class exos, you'll soon meet your squad leaders. Orders are given to attack from the sides. And the final group, all recon-class, take to the roofs. Make sure to deplete their reinforcements as much as possible. We will have Goliaths incoming, so protect them at all costs. Got it?"
"Hoorah!" the chorus of men and women voices cheer as they load the Dropships. I take the one with Gideon. I sit down beside him, and next to me, Dawn comes in, her Killer exo and SENTINEL Recon outfit and Covert helmet makes her easy to pick out. When I see her eyes behind the tint, I know I have to stay close to her.
We are married, after all, I think as the Dropship lurches as it takes off.
"Gideon," I ask. "What's going on?"
He looks at me. "Back to ATLAS, but this time to prevent deaths."
I don't know how many minutes have passed, but when I snap out of whatever I was in, it's to Gideon yelling at everyone to put their helmets on. There's a beep, then another, and a loud, high pitched beep comes on as the doors open, and hell is all that's in front of me. Many SENTINEL have already died, but ATLAS HeadQuarters doesn't look good either. The once-peaceful streets have now become a war zone. I sprint out of the Dropship, narrowly missing bullets as they whiz by my helmet. I find a downed Dropship to hide behind, and there I see a MORS. I pick it up, and aim to see what's ahead.
To the sides of the HQ, there are two Outposts, where ATLAS Snipers take aim at us. I see one, and judging by the rank on his shoulder, I'm guessing he's a Warrant Officer. I adjust the focus on the scope, and take aim at his head. I pull the trigger, and the sound of a howl mixed with leaking Co2, a whistle and small explosion came at once, and before the Warrant Officer could know what hit him, his head burst into millions of pieces as the rail battery comes in contact. He doesn't fall, so I'm left with the gruesome sight of a spinal cord and veins hanging out. I reload, and keep firing until I'm out of batteries. I grab my BAL, and dash for a raised piece of concrete.
I started an ATLAS.
Now, it's time for it to fall.