The Life of an ATLAS Boy

The Fall of ATLAS, Pt. 1

Look at what John's done. He turned all of ATLAS against me. Like I care. They were getting old anyways.
"General Irons!"
"Yes, Captain? How are things looking on the ground?"
"Not too good! SENTINEL keeps coming! Also, I have some grave news."
"What is it?"
"Your niece is amongst the ranks."
Dammit Dawn! All you want to do is be near that wreck! You can't stand to be away from him! You follow him into battle, a battle you can't win!
"Captain, come in."
"Yes General."
"I want you to injure Dawn. Try to kill John. If you can't, let them in. Let them come to me. I'll take care of them myself."
"Sir..."
***
The rattling of gunfire makes you want to run away, even though there's nowhere to run. It's even worse when your girlfriend's beside you, always getting shot at. My BAL-27 is always running low when I need it the most, so I'm forced to pull out my MP443 Grach and fire. The little kick of the pistol makes everything near-accurate. In no time, I have to reload. I place a new mag in, and cock the slide forward. The two-shot bursts throw me off sometimes, and now is one of those times. I take cover behind the concrete that me and Dawn are behind.
"Fuck," I mutter as I see a whole fleet of Warbirds overhead. The Dropships are easily outran, and definitely outgunned. The Dropships fire into the fleet, knocking down a few at a time. However, the Warbirds deplete our reinforcements, one ship at a time.
"Fall back!" our Field Captain yells as a Dropship falls on top of him. It's near night, so we have a small advantage. But not a big one since ATLAS can easily pick us out.
"We keep fighting till night," Gideon orders us. "Once it comes, we fall back and scatter! Save ammo for later! Gideon out."
"John," Dawn says in a small voice.
"What is it, beautiful?" I ask.
"I'm scared," she comes close to me, and grabs hold of my body. I wrap my arms around her, and I hear her cry. I take off her helmet so she can bury her head in my chest. It isn't long before the sun sets, and all the street lights that are left standing are lit.
"Now we fall-" Gideon gets cut off by a distant cannon fire. The sound of metal in concrete is heard throughout. One thing lands near me, and I see that it's a smoke grenade.
"Hostiles popping smoke!" I yell just as the canisters explode as a black, thick smoke pours all over the streets. The smoke is still coming, and I hold Dawn even closer. Eventually, the smoke stops coming.
"Come on," I get up, and Dawn follows, holding my hand with a deathly grip. I take a flare from my belt, pop the lid off and hold it so that I can see where I'm going. I keep Dawn as close to me as I can. Soon, flares are popped by others, and we all meet up.
"Everyone alright?" Gideon asks from the bunch. We all look at each other and nod.
"Good. We need our strength," Gideon says as he looks around. "This smoke is a special cocktail brewed by ATLAS, so it'll last pretty long. Best bet is to go south, and go from there."
"Did you hear that?" a Soldier with a heavy English accent says. "Sounds 'ike theys goin to be bombin us again." That's when I saw it.
An orange glow in the sky, kinda like a meteor, came from the location near ATLAS HQ. As it reached it's peak, my eyes widened.
"Everybody run!" I yell as the mortar begins to descend. Once they see what I do, everyone gets up and books it in whatever direction they can. The only man left is the British SENTINEL, who fearfully looks to see his demise. I got a bit of the blast, and as I scramble to my feet, I see Dawn standing in horror.
"C'mon!" I yell. I grab her hand for a moment, then let go as we are both running, mortars dropping everywhere. The screams of pain are often blocked out by the whistling of the bombs dropping, but they're there. I look back at Dawn, and she has her arms up over her head, flailing them like a madman does a knife. I see a mortar drop right in front of us. Luckily, we got out just in time, but the others weren't so lucky. Three less men, I thought as a ran by the crater. A man is still alive, I realize, trapped by a large chunk of concrete at his legs.
"Help me!" he screams. I stop running to help him, and Dawn does likewise. When I see the man's face, I see that his beard is neatly trimmed, and besides the heavy ash and chunks missing, he looks pretty good. Blood has started coming from his mouth, the crimson liquid pouring on the sidewalk.
"Help him out when I lift the thing off him," I command Dawn as she holds the man's arms. With all my strength, I lift up the concrete slab, and when Dawn pulls the man out, I see the muscle, bone, nerve endings, blood and torn skin as the man lost his legs, severed at the knees. The man looks at Dawn, and I can tell his eyes are wide. Then, his head hangs, signifying his death.
"You have to leave him," I say to Dawn. "There's nothing you can do."
Dawn drops the man, and runs to me. I'm sure that now isn't a great time for a hug, but I'll take it. The total oddness of just standing around while mortars fly all around us is scary, but if I'm going to die, I'd want to be with Dawn.
That's when I hear a gun go off. It wasn't a cannon, I clearly can distinguish a cannon and a gun. The shot wasn't close to us, but it wasn't far. We had to go.
Dawn somehow realized what I was thinking, and started to run. I glance back, and only faintly see the pile of flares, still burning somehow. I catch up to Dawn, and we both run where we think is South. Our footsteps seem to echo, besides the dropping shells. We find a group of SENTINEL, and try running with them. The guy at the back starts to slow. I stop, and Dawn comes towards me.
"Keep going!" I yell at her to get over all the explosions.
"I'm not going anywhere without you!" she says in return. I start after the man, but a mortar lands in front of him, killing the poor soul and sprays blood all over my visor. I don't bother trying to wipe it off, but start running straight, away from the bombs. A Warbird flies overhead, it's propellers not stirring the smoke. Mortars continue to drop, and I avoid them somehow.
"All you in there," Gideon's voice comes over the comm system. "We found a working Dropship. Look for flare, then move 20 meters left. Gideon out."
A flare goes off about 20 meters to our left.
"There it is," I say to Dawn. I turn my head to look at her. "We can go home." When I turn back, I see a mortar dropping in front of me. I start sprinting faster, then use my boost jump to avoid the worst of the blast. My landing isn't the best. My knees buckle out from underneath me, and I fall. I grit my teeth as a get up. The whirl of engines ahead sparks hope. We made it, I think as I draw my pistol, just for safety reasons.
"Gideon!" I yell.
"Corporal?" a surprised and confused Gideon responds. "We need to get out of here."
"Aye. What of our pilot?"
Gideon looks at the ground. "We have none."
"I can do it," a SENTINEL from the group behind me chimes up. "I have a little experience, but I can fly."
"Good," Gideon impatiently says. "Now get in there and start the damn thing up."
Our pilot nods, and goes for the cockpit. Suddenly, the door closes and the Dropship takes off.
"Bastard!" Gideon yells. "Get down here!"
"Sir, there's no way we can make it out in one piece," a sad SENTINEL says. "It's been an honor serving under one of the best ATLAS." And somehow, on cue, and Anti-Air gun spots the Dropship and is charging. A loud bang erupts over everything else, and twin laser beams shoot out from the AA gun, and hit the Dropship. The ship exploded in a large flash of red, orange, yellow, brown and blue. And that was the end of another young SENTINEL life. "Genius," Gideon mutters. "Anyone else has any other ideas that won't get us fucking killed?!"
All is silent amongst the ranks.
"Alright then. We set up camp here."
The mortars stop firing. I'm guessing that Irons thinks that he's killed us all. The small group that we have left walks South, since we don't want to stay in one place for too long. We walk, even though the smoke still distorts us. The darkness of night still doesn't help our cause. The group follows Gideon and Mitchell, along with a SENTINEL named Cormack. Everything is so quiet. Too quiet.
"Hey little brother," Calem runs up beside me and Dawn. "Remember when we were young, and how we always used to come out here in the middle of the night." He laughs to himself. "Now, here we are. Full blown Soldiers, following our squad out of hell."
"Shut up, Sergeant Olsteen," Mitchell says.
"Bastard," Calem mutters as he goes back to his group of buddies. I'm lost about how far we travelled, or what time it is, but we finally get so far back that we're now where all the destroyed Dropships are.
"Everyone find a ship, and call it home," Gideon orders. Dawn and I choose a ship that's shared by no one else. "Mitchell, Cormack and I will take watch first. We'll rotate shifts, so everyone can get the same amount of sleep." Right on note, everyone unstraps their exos and lay on the benches. I find a good spot to lie down, and Dawn comes and curls up beside me.
"Today's been a hell of an experience," she says as I wrap my arm around her. I smile and laugh, and Dawn giggles.
"The thing that matters most is that we're still here," I say as I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Alive, and well."
Then we kiss, and I pull her close to me.
***
"Why did you stop the strike?" Jonathan Irons angrily asks a scared but somewhat confident Captain DeRose.
"No life signatures are on radar, sir," the Captain says. Irons completely ignores DeRose's eyes as he looks at the screen behind him.
"What of the heat signature, D5?"
"Just a mix of flares and fires, sir. You killed them in the AA," DeRose's voice became a little shaky. Luckily, Irons didn't notice, but Lieutenant David Jerome did. DeRose met Jerome's eyes, and DeRose didn't have to say anything. His eyes told Jerome, "Do not let Irons know what we're doing." Jerome blinked to confirm, then looked back at his monitor.
"Very well," Irons said as he turned around. "Forget your job. Forget your pledge to ATLAS."
"Sir?" DeRose managed to choke out.
"Join John when he dies," Irons says as he pulls out a RW1 and aims it right at the Captain's chest. "You are not ATLAS material." The trigger is pulled, and the battery charges in a millisecond, and the shot hits DeRose square in the chest, making a neat hole through his body. Slightly alive, DeRose tries to say something, but his blood chokes him whenever he opens his mouth. DeRose chokes on his last breaths, and dies, blood steadily pouring from his open mouth. Irons switches the battery, and while he does, asks, "Anyone else wish to join him in death?"
Twenty fearful faces stare up at Jonathan Irons, ruler of ATLAS, killer if their Captain. "Good," Irons says. "Lieutenant Jerome, you're in charge." Shocked, the Lieutenant moves his friend's body off the console.
"Orders, sir?" The Lieutenant asks.
"Concentrate all fire on Sector D5," Irons says, no remorse in his voice. "Leave no one alive." Jerome nods, and sits where DeRose used to sit. I'm sorry, buddy, he thinks as he charges the AA battery.
***
Someone kicks me.
"C'mon Corporal," an anxious sounding Gideon says. "You and your girlfriend are on watch with your brother."
I groan, but eventually get up and strap my exo back on. I nudge Dawn.
"Wake up, beautiful," I whisper. "We are in watch."
"But why?" Dawn complains.
"We need to switch shifts. We'll be done soon, I promise."
Dawn shakes her head and gets equipped.
"You'll need these," Mitchell throws me a pair of night vision goggles. "Still pretty goddamn dark out there." I nod, and go to the middle of our makeshift campsite, where Calem already sits.
"Took you long enough, little brother," he jokingly hits me in the shoulder.
"Shut up," I laugh, and hit him back. "All cause you're older doesn't mean that you're the only one that can give punches." Calem and I break out laughing, and that's when I spot something on his finger.
"What's that?" I ask him. He looks at me oddly as if he's hiding it. "C'mon, we're brothers, ain't we?"
Sighing, Calem explains. "I'm married to a girl named Roselyn," he says, blushing a little. Dawn and I start laughing, but Calem seemed serious. I stop, and ask, "For the shits?"
"Yep," Calem nods. "For the whole pile of it." I felt my eyes blow out of my head. Roselyn, the mayor of Carolina's daughter, could've picked anyone. She was labelled "prettiest Carolinian alive" five years running, and yet she picks my idiot brother... but, I'm not to argue. I have Dawn, the most beautiful girl in the world, beside me. Baffled still, I keep my mouth open. I then laugh, and rock back and forth on the makeshift chair around the fire.
"You are such a liar," I joke, and Calem laughs back.
"You're a bastard," my brother says, not realizing he insulted himself as well.
"Well, if I'm a bastard," I say matter-of-factly, "then that means that you're also a bastard."
Calem goes red, a mix of anger and embarrassment. Dawn and I start laughing, and a light in the distance catches our attention. It seems to be coming from ATLAS HQ, but the smoke, which is now luckily slowly lifting bit by bit, still makes it unclear. I take the night vision goggles Mitchell gave me and looked through them, and enhanced the zoom to 10x. I could make out two beams, the same colour of an EPM3 laser, except much larger. I zoom in a bit more, just to try and get a shape of it when a hum came from the distance. The hum was a mechanical hum, but for some reason it kept getting louder. Then, the thing shot the lasers, the blast waking everyone up. The shots were fired where we had all our flares. Oh, shit, I thought as I reached for my BAL, and brought it close to me.
"What the hell was that?!" one of the old ATLAS Soldiers basically cries when he saw the explosion.
Gideon runs up to the front, conveniently beside me. "Looks like the AA gun is up again," he says in a tone struck with grief. He looks at me. "Corporal."
"Yes sir," I reply, trying not to sound frightened.
"Go investigate the blast," he says. "And don't worry, you can bring along your brother, your girlfriend and a few other Soldiers," he motions three other men over, along with Mitchell. Dawn looks at the grizzled ATLAS Captain. "I don't care if this is where you die. I just want to know what the hell ATLAS was firing at."
"C'mon," Mitchell says as he motions us into the smoke. Lucky for us, it's mainly been lifted, but when we got to the middle, the thickness came back at us, and we were blind once more.
"Damn," one of the Soldiers says. "Can't see a thing once more."
"Shut it, Serge," Mitchell says.
"Who put you in charge, Mr. One-arm?"
"Just shut it, Private, before I have you ejected."
"And then what? ATLAS will take me in, and you'll have one less soldier."
"And they'll have two," Mitchell says as he punches Serge in the gut, a clean thunk sprung from the Private. Serge lay on the ground, clutching his gut.
"Is that the best you got?" Serge weakly says. Enraged, Mitchell takes out his ATLAS 45 and points it at Serge's head.
"This is," Mitchell pulls the trigger and a bullet rested in Private Serge's skull. Blood slowly oozed out of the exit wound and stained the concrete a sleek, dark red. His face stuck in a permanent gasp, it was hard not to laugh. Mitchell holsters his pistol and walks forward, where the crater lay. Steam was ejected from the circumstance, and pieces of destroyed concrete lay scattered in and around the crater. Mitchell picked up a flare that lay dead.
"They must've thought that we were here," he says as he throws the flare into the crater. "Let report back to-"
The sound of machine gun fire quickly came, and the bullets that didn't hit their target flew by.
"Hit the deck!" I yelled as we all returned fire at whoever was shooting at us. I could make out red wristpads on all about wrist level for all the targets.
"Fall back!" Mitchell commands, and we all hightail it back to camp, occasionally turning back to shoot back. Once we reached camp, Gideon asked Mitchell what happened. Mitchell describes everything perfectly.
"ATLAS just won't go down without a fight..." Gideon mutters as as goes back to his Dropship for the rest of the night.

Part 2 Underway...