Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait. Enjoy.
Seven minutes, that was how long it took. Seven minutes is all that was needed in order for Atlas to best the Spartan program. Something that they were still recovering from, even now. Two hours later after the war game took place, the Spartans all placed within the bases medical bay, recovering from many different injures. Though there wasn't one death. To Admiral Parangosky, that was both the best and worst things about the entire situation. His not killing of the Spartans certainly won him points from the other members present, showing that he wasn't some blood thirsty alien savage but to her, it was an issue that needed to be dealt with. Atlas needed to get over his fear of taking life.
But that can wait for another time. As of the moment, there were other things that needed to be dealt with. Namely they all needed to agree at what was to come next. Which is what led to all those present sitting around the conference table as they had done before the war game started. There were... disagreements about the subject. There was no shouting, no arguing, you don't get to be a rank as high as those present without being able to keep yourself calm.
But there were different ideas about what should become of Atlas. Cole and Holland were for the argument that trying to further train Atlas was a waste of time and resources and that he was ready for the front lines of the insurrectionists. Not a bad idea but it was something that Parangosky wasn't for at this time, she knew what Atlas was capable of, but he still lacked certain traits that she thinks he needs. And based on the way Hood was staying silent next to her, he wasn't for the idea either.
Opposite the two military men where Halsey and Ackerson who are actually agreeing on something much to her surprise. They both claimed that they needed to know more about Atlas, more about what he could do. Which would be achieved via dissection. It honestly surprised her that they think she would ever allow that. Of course, she understood why they wanted to do that. Herself nearly agreeing to it when she first got custody of him when he first arrived. Though she supposed that neither of them said he would die during the process.
Keys and Mendez where both silent during the whole thing, most likely knowing that they had very little to contribute to the topic of what was to become of Atlas next, not that they couldn't way in with advice, they very much could. But they are much like herself and Hood, either they were waiting for the others to finish and still trying to work out the details of what they want themselves.
"We don't need to cut him open in order to use him?" Cole said calmly as he typed a little on the data pad in front of him "there are well over a dozen different worlds where there's a strong insurrectionist presents; he could just walk in and deal with them one by one" he turned to look at Parangosky "which will also allow him to be outside in the open seen by everyone"
Halsey scoffed at his words as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms "We don't need it to do that, my Spartans are more than capable of doing that. But imagine what we'll learn if we can see how it can do what it can"
"And what would be the point of that?" Holland countered "even if you can somehow get into him, which by the way, I'm pretty sure we can't at the moment because we don't know how. What would you hope to get from it? I know your smart but there's no way you can just look into someone and suddenly know how to make your super soldiers even more super"
Parangosky had to admit, that was good argument. Even if Halsey could somehow get into Atlas, it would take decades of research in order to possibly adapt it to humans "We'd have to start somewhere" Ackerson said back just as calmly "you cannot just sit there and say you can't see the appeal"
"Of course we see it" Cole added, not denying the points that they made "it just makes far more sense to use him now then it would be to cut him open and not see anything come from it for decades, maybe even longer"
"And you trust it to be used in such a way" Halsey said back without hesitation.
"Atlas's trust is not in question" Parangosky said, speaking for the first time since this meeting started. The others stopped arguing as she spoke "you've all seen what he can do and seeing how well he handled the Spartans, I am more confident in his ability to complete missions however there are some things that you two may be forgetting" she added looking at Cole and Holland.
"And what might that be ma'am" Holland asked with a professional voice.
"He's a kid" Hood answered for her, also speaking for the first time since the meeting began "yes, he can do incredible things but I very much doubt he has the maturity that the Spartans do. You're asking someone who is essentially a child to go into situations that have broken veterans" he then turned to the two scientist "and there is no way in hell you two are going to waste the millions that have been spent on him already just so you can live in a fantasy world where we're all so powerful"
Being completely honest Parangosky always liked how Hood could go straight to the point when he needed to "and what would your plan be exactly?" she found herself asking being very much curious.
"There are many different possibilities that could prove fruitful" he answered.
There was no grogginess, no weariness, no moments of confusion. The moment John felt consciousness return to him, his eyes snapped open and he sat up looking for the enemy. There was still a large pain centred around his head but his mental discipline and own tolerance to pain, he was able to ignore that.
He looked around at the familiar surroundings of the bases medical bay, he could see all his Spartans around him, some where still knocked out like he just was, some where seemingly only just waking up and he could see a handful that where currently getting dressed.
Knowing that the environment was safe as where the others, he allowed himself to calm down and his mind went back to what happened. The last thing he remembered was the tree falling on him, he knew he had others that where still standing when he was knocked out. For a moment he wondered whether or not that were able to complete their mission but turning his head, he could see Kelly a few beds down, she was lying on her back and based on the doctor currently bandaging her rips, he stopped wondering.
Moving to the side he placed his feet on the ground while still sitting down, he thought about what happened. They lost, that's never happened before. Yes, some training missions were hard. Yes, they stumbled on occasion but that was always when they fought or competed against each other. They've never been beaten by someone who wasn't a Spartan.
A feeling not unlike melancholy started to form within him, while he knew there would be a chance that they would lose. They all knew that, they know what ONI is and what it was capable of. If Admiral Parangosky had something that they would all be going up against then they knew that them being beaten was a possibility but for them to be beaten so easily. By one person.
John used to think that he was above something like pride, he thought that those types of feelings had been taken from him. But if he was feeling all this now then maybe that wasn't the case. It went without saying that he would be sending a request to Halsey and Mendez to see the file on Atlas, if one man could do all thi... wait no. It wasn't a man, he closed his eyes for a moment and looked back, he only saw the image of Atlas's face once for a few seconds but when he thought back and focused on the image of his face. Something he didn't care about in the heat of the fighting, he realized that he was young.
He looked younger than John did, he looked younger than all of his Spartans did. Though that itself was quite tricky, since they went through the augmentations it was hard for someone who didn't know to say how old they were. And Atlas, just one person who by John's guess was younger than them, was able to beat all of them within a small-time frame. That was horrifying to him, if he was this powerful now, who knows how strong he will be when he's older?
John had no idea what Atlas was but he could easily see why ONI would want to test it against the best, if he could tear through them that fast then what hope would the regular soldiers have? Being perfectly honest with himself, a part of him wanted to have Atlas with them as well, if Atlas was a part of the Spartan program their battlefield victory probability would drastically increase.
He knew that it wouldn't happen, the Spartans and Atlas didn't need to be together in order to do the missions that they would have been given. The Spartans could be used as individuals and he suspected Atlas was the same, while he was sure that they would work together on occasion, based on his thoughts that would be only on the large-scale high-risk missions and those are few and far between.
"117" a voice said getting his attention "how are you feeling?"
John turned his head and saw one of the bases many different doctors come towards him until he was standing right in front of him with a data pad in hand. He recognised the man, he was present during some of the augmentation operations "slight headache, otherwise green" he answered.
"Good" the doctor said back calmly as he held up his data pad up to his face "look at the light" he instructed. Following the orders he looked at the small white dot at the centre of the opaque glass, after a few seconds he lowered the device "no concussions, I'll get you a small pain killer then you're free to get dressed" he said before he turned and moved away.
John watched as he left and looked around for his clothes, he knew he was wearing a medical gown the second he woke up, it wasn't the first time he's woken up in the med-bay and he doubts that it would be the last. Before the doctor could come back to him, two soldiers moved towards his bed "117" the one on the right said "your needed. Now" he said while the one on the left stepped forward and handed him a bundle of clothes.
He took a deep breath as he walked down the dirt road around the trees. Once the entire thing was done and the Spartans were beaten, Alt just wondered back in the way he came and got dressed in his clothes. His dad was there to greet him when he came out with a smile on his face, but not in the mood to deal with all the fuss that would come from him talking to all the big in charge people. Alt just told him that he would meet him back at the base and he started to walk in that direction.
No one moved to stop him, he didn't know whether or not that was because all the soldiers were told not to by someone, they didn't know they needed to stop him or they were just too afraid too and knew that they couldn't stop him if they tried. Alt knew what was going to happen next, even if the ones in charge themselves didn't. They've seen what he can do now and there was no way they would just let him go back to how it used to be.
Knowing that everything was about to change he just wanted to take some time to himself because he knew that he's never had that before, he's always had agents around him. He didn't know if the agents at home knew he knew about them or not but the fact remains he did know. He knew that privacy was something he would never get, it was something he's grown up with so he's used to it, even if he didn't like it. The problem was now he would get even less of it, if that was even possible.
Hence why he was walking instead of taking the jeep. The thing about being near nature was that it was harder to be tailed and easier keep an eye of things because cameras are hard to hide. He liked it when he was able to take some time to himself, just relax. After around ten minutes of walking he started to think about what would happen, he knew that the odds of him and dad going home wouldn't be great so that left a handful of different possibilities open.
In his mind he could see two different things happening, number one would be that he stays here and becomes a part of this Spartan program. Not be a Spartan himself, he doesn't want to be one and he's got a feeling they wouldn't want that either. But on the hand he could easily see that they would be paired together, they might think that he needs more training and the only ones that would be able to compete with him would be the Spartans. It makes sense that he might stay here for a while.
The other option would be that they think he has enough training and all he needs now is experience. So they would send him out on missions, he didn't really know how he should feel about that. Sure he wasn't afraid for himself but he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about the idea, this was something that he wanted to do. But was just worried that he wouldn't be able to bring the insurrectionist back into the fold. That was something he knew he needed to do.
There was no doubt in his mind that the insurrectionist cells need to be dealt with, he would hope that they can be brought in peacefully and he would try everything he needed to in order to achieve that. But if they proved that they were incapable of doing so, holding onto their floored goals out of sheer stubbornness or wilful ignorance. He would do what he had too. Humanity needs to be united if it is to survive against whatever is out there in the emptiness of space.
He stopped walking and placed a hand on his face 'I'm fourteen, why am I thinking about this?' he asked himself with a sad voice 'god, that's depressing' he added.
He shook his head, he didn't need to think about how he was going to be used as a weapon. Right now, he just wanted to break. Turning around, he could see a gap in the trees and through that gap he could just make out one of the tall skyscrapers of the city a couple dozen miles away. He hummed to himself, he's never been into the big city before. He almost went a couple of times for a school trip but every time it came up dad always came up with a reason for him not too.
He looked behind him and looked at the base. He gave a small shrug before turning back to the city and jumped, unlike the last couple of times where there were small hops. This time he easily cleared the tree line and moved a couple of miles before he went back down, the ground cracked underneath him and he jumped again quickly after.
Again and again he jumped, clearing the trees each time and moving miles. It was only forty-five seconds before he was on the edge of the city's outer streets, though in his mind he was just having too much fun jumping up and down without worry in order to notice how close he was.
He was already in the air when he noticed that he was flying over the buildings he started to panic, for a moment everything Johnson said to him about panicking went out the window and definitely started panicking. It was only the sheer shock of what was happening that stopped him from screaming out loud. Though when he started to descend into what must have been the city centre, yeah, he at the very least let out a small yelp.
Though when he could see his reflection in the windows of a skyscraper "AAAHHH!" he screamed. Thankfully he missed the window, his body smashing into the building just between the floors. The outer wall cracking with the force of his body, it was only his head that kept him from all down when the momentum of the jumping stopped and that was only because it was embedded in the concreate.
Taking a mental breath Alt placed his hands on the wall as his body hung there and with a small push he free himself but while that solved one problem it caused another. As the second his head was free he started to fall towards the ground. Knowing that he could stop them he just did his best to try and end this situation.
He was thankful that the sidewalk was mostly empty, though when he smashed into the ground with a loud banh and cracking the concrete under him. Everyone who wasn't already looked turned.
Standing up, Alt quickly looked around and saw everyone staring at them. Looking back, he just gave some a nervous smile and wave before he turned and started to walk calmly down the street. Doing his best to ignore the staring from all directions.
The room was silent for a moment, no doubt all present thinking about what was offered "well" Cole started "it's not perfect but it's certainly better than what they've been saying" he nodded towards the scientists, who in turn glared back.
"Ma'am" Ackerson said as he turned to face Parangosky "I assure you that if you give us ten years, we will know everything about how it can do what it can" he tried to persuade her otherwise.
For a moment the Admiral of ONI almost didn't notice that he said 'us' instead of 'I' meaning that he was willing to work with Halsey in order to understand Atlas 'if only they could work together like this all the time' she mused. It really was a shame that they didn't, Halsey and Ackerson where the smartest and most useful scientists ONI had. Oh, sure there may be some here and there that could do the same as them but these two where the only ones she knew that still worked despite knowing exactly ONI is. Hell, these two have down some stuff themselves that could be said to be... morally questionable. The only one who could rival those two in importance at this time was Stevens but to be fair that was only because Atlas was still young and needed the prenatal figure. As he got older the importance of Stevens would lower bit by bit.
"And I have made it clear that dissecting Atlas is off the table" she said back calmly as she leaned in her chair and crossed her arms.
"Ma'am, I assure you we will do everything we can to ensure its survi..." he tried to convince her.
"Enough" her eyes narrowed as she looked at the scientist who knew that this argument was over "I in fact agree with Admiral Hoods idea" she said to the others "Although I do admit there are some other options that could achieve the same result" she said turning to the only one who could be called her equal.
"And what might that be?" Hood asked back calmly, not at all insulted that she wanted to make some changes to his plan.
It was a good plan, or at the very least she could understand the reasoning easily enough. His idea was that Atlas shall be installed within the Reach military academy, yes he may be younger than the others who will be there but with a handful of words from any of those present could change those rules. Parangosky could understand the appeal "if Atlas was placed within the academy" she started "he could very well learn how it should be working with others in the military or more accurately learning how to be around comrades and even make some friends" she could practically hear Halsey roll her eyes at her "but at the same time it would be a waste of what he can do. So, I have an alternative"
Before she could continue the doors to the conference room opened and all heads turned in order to see a well-built young man walk in and stop in front of the table "Sirs" he brought his arm up in a salute "ma'am. Doctors"
"At ease 117" she said calmly, and he lowered his arm and placed them behind his back.
"What's your status son?" Hood asked.
"Green, Sir" the Spartan leader said back.
"Have a seat 117" she continued and gestured to the one unoccupied chair around the table. Without a word the Spartan moved and sat calmly on the chair and looked at her with her back straight "tell me something 117, you and the rest of the Spartans have faced off against Atlas. What do you think of him?" she asked.
The Spartan was quite for a moment, no doubt thinking about what he should say "I won't be able to say anything in confidence until I understand the full scope of what he is capable of" he started making that stance clear and all present could understand that "however, I can say that he would be an incredibly useful battlefield asset. The potential is undeniable and his... abilities based on what I've seen could turn the tide of any failed missions that the Spartans have undergone in the past"
As he explained his feelings on Atlas, Parangosky glanced at Halsey and could see that while she held a calm expression, there was a fire in her eyes the more he talked. It seemed she wasn't a fan of one of her Spartans talking about how good Atlas was. However, before the Spartan could continue with his assessment the doors to the room opened. But unlike before she didn't know who would be coming in and was surprised to see both Williams and Stevens rush in "Ma'am we have a situation" Williams said the urgency.
Stevens on the other hand just looked board "it's fine, the situation is under control" he tried to calm her.
"Ma'am. Atlas has gone AWOL" she continued talking without giving Stevens a second glance.
The room was quite for a moment, though all heads turned to the two Admirals. Halsey and Ackerson looked at her like they we're doing everything they could to not smirk and her and say they were right. Cole and Holland looked at Hood simply waiting for orders "Stevens" Parangosky started as she looked at the lead scientist of project Atlas "something you want to tell us?" she said.
He rolled his eyes at Williams before stepping past his fellow scientist "he hasn't gone AWOL. He just went into the city" he explained calmly.
"Which he did without permission or telling anyone" she Williams spat back at him.
"Deja" Halsey said out loud "do you have eyes on Project Atlas within the city?" she asked to the bases A.I.
"Yes Doctor Halsey" the bodiless voice of the A.I spoke around the room and without any other words, around a dozen different screens appeared in the centre of the table. Each one moving in circles so all could see each one. Yes, it seemed that Atlas was in the city. From what she could see he was just walking around, looking into shop windows and glancing at some people as they past him.
"Stevens" she started "can you explain?" she asked calmly.
"I'll do you one better" he said stepping forward walking around the table until he stood next to her chair. Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out his phone and after pushing a button he placed it down on the table, to those who looked back at the screens, they could see Atlas stop walking on the sidewalk and reach into his own pocket, pulling out what was no doubt a phone.
He looked at it for a moment before answering "hey dad" he said on speaker so all could hear him.
"Hey Alt, you doing ok?" he asked calmly.
"Yeah I... I just wanted a break, you know?" he said back with a tired voice.
"of course" Stevens said back quickly "you know if you wanted to go into town, you could have just asked?"
"I know but I wanted to go on my own, no agents following me. I guess I just wanted to see what privacy was really like" he tried to explain.
"Well, what do you think?" Stevens asked back calmly, giving a glance to the Admirals, who by now started to see just what the situation was.
"it's alright, there's a lot of noise. Guess I'm just not used to it"
"You will" he said back calmly "hey, I'll do you a deal. I'll do everything I can to make sure no agents turn up. In return, you get back here say... around five" that would give Alt two hours to himself in the city. He glanced at Parangosky, as if asking for permission from her and after a moment she gave a nod.
"Deal" Alt said back quickly.
"Oh, and you know if you go towards the college, you might be able to see some of the music performances they do out in the public sometimes" he informed him.
"I might do that, thanks dad. Love you" he finished.
"You too" without another word he hung up his end of the phone before placing it back in pocket and turned to face the Admirals before giving them a shrug "he's not some weapon, he's just a teenager"
The two Admirals nodded at him "thank you Doctor Stevens" Hood said "you two may be on your way" without a word both Stevens and Williams left the conference room "now" Hood turned back to the others "where were we?" he asked them.
After he hung up the phone, he calmly placed it back in his pocket before walking forward. He felt much better now that he had permission to be out here. He couldn't help but hum to himself, he had time to himself without being followed, this was a first.
Allowing a small smile to cross his face he started to walk forward, in the direction of that college his dad had talked about. The streets where busy with both people and cars, the sun was shining and he's now certain that anyone who saw him arrive veer building crash was long behind him.
He just knew he would get a lecture about that when he got back, though he guessed that he couldn't be surprised by that, if he landed against a window, he'd have smashed right through that and maybe even hit someone. He wasn't surprised that his dad called him, he half expected a small army to suddenly surround him. Him being given time to himself was a very nice change of pace.
He glanced up into the sky and saw three UNSC frigates flying in formation above the city. He couldn't help but smile slightly, in a few years he may be up there with him. Flying in the sky and through space, to different worlds and stopping wars.
Without Alt even realizing it, he walked the entire way and soon found himself in part area that had a set up that was almost like a small stage. It was a hot day to the park was full of families, old couples, groups of friends and such. Somewhere gathered around the stage, though most just seemed to be enjoying their time together. He walked forward and sat down on what seemed to be a large circle of seating that was made smooth stone, he looked to the stage and listened.
The teenagers where playing with many different instruments, they were in a line and playing in sync with each other. In front of them was an older man and based on the way he talks, Alt assumed he was the teacher. As they played, Clark found himself smiling at them. Music wasn't something he gave much thought to; he's heard too before and almost everywhere he goes.
But for some reason he found himself enjoying this more then he thought, maybe it was that particular style of music or maybe he was just in a good mood today. He stayed there though, he stayed for a half hour, just listening to them play. Others listening came and went but he just stayed there and enjoyed himself "AAAAHHHHH!" the sound hit his ears and he needed a minute to understand what he just heard.
His smile vanished and his head turned to where he thought the sound was coming from "MOVE! GET ON YOUR KNEES!" the sound of deep voice was also heard. Alt stood up and started to move in a light jog towards where the sound was coming from. His eyes where wide and his heart was racing, he didn't know what was happening but he had a very good idea.
He left the park and started to run down the street, the sounds of screams and sirens becoming more and more prominent as he did. A part of him just wanted to jump over there but he knew that if he did there would be a very good chance he would hit one of the ships in the skyline, a building, he could land on a car or even a person. He needed to do this by foot. Though that didn't mean he was slow, if someone was keeping track they would be able to see that he's sprinting fast then some cars where driving. Which is way he was on the road and not the sidewalk.
As he zeroed in on where he thought the shouting and screaming was coming from, the people moving in the opposite direction became more and more apparent. He slowed down as he turned the final corner just in time to see multiple police vehicles. Both on the ground and in the air surround a building, looking closer he could see that it was a history museum. There had to be dozens of police getting out and surround the area, not letting anyone get closer "there here" he heard a second voice say "good, let our message be heard by all. Our world will be free" a third voice said.
That made Alt stop mid step as a crowd of people moved around him, to get a better look at the commotion, though a barrier was up now preventing anyone from getting too close. But he didn't need to get closer to see what was happening, use the power that only dad knows about. His eyes changed as he used it, his pupils began to twist and turn like a camera lens as the walls of the building became transparent. He could see a group of seven people, all heavily armed in one open room. Up against the wall caused Alt's heart to skip a beat, he could see well over thirty people, all on their knees and cowering in the corner, including what looked like children who all wore a uniform.
That was when he started to move, he didn't know how this would work but he did know that he needed to move before it was too late. He walked right up to the police barrier and looked at the building, he remembered everything Johnson told him, how to act in these situations. He had to secure the hostages before these guys could do whatever they were planning. Alt looked at the building more closely, trying to find the best entry point, that was when he saw a briefcase being carried towards the one who seemed to be the leader.
His eyes widened even more when he saw what it was "let it be known what we do today. Is proof that even the heart of the UNSC can't be safe against us" it was a bomb, they weren't trying to rob them, they were going to blow them all up.
That changed things for him, he was about to move under the delusion that the hostages were going to be used as shields to get away but if they were going to kill everyone anyway, his train of thought was cut off when he heard a key turn and he looked to see the one in charge using it to open the briefcase. Without wasting any time, the man pressed a few keys and the ominous sound of a robotic ticking could be heard.
He needed to move. Alt started to move forward, pushing and shoving people away as he did so. Normally he would have been more polite about it but time was running out, he didn't know how big of a timer was on that bomb but he didn't want to take any chances. Upon reaching the front of the crowd he was met with the quickly made police barricade, he simply hopped over it "HEY! GET BEHIND THE LINE!" a loud gruff voice sounded but Alt didn't pay attention to it.
He looked up to the building, there were a dozen men all armed spread out across the entire thing, but the main group and all the hostages were spaced out on the top floor in a single atrium. There was a couple of entry points that he could use but only one had what must have been an insurrectionist in front of it. He took a couple of deep breaths and acted, as a hand was placed on his shoulder, he acted.
With his legs bent, he jumped into the air and everyone around him was shocked as the ground under him shattered. He moved through the air and hit his target. His body smashed through the hardened glass and he collided with his first target. The man fell to the ground in a heap, the force of the collision enough to do real damage to the front of his body.
Nobody moved, everyone in the room starred at him and he starred back. All his training started to flow through him, everything he's been taught started to take effect.
Five hostiles, including the leader. Thirty-nine hostages, all gathered in one place. Automatic weapons, light body Armor. First round fired. Alts eyes followed the bullet as it flew through the air right towards him, it missed. Flew right past his ear but now he new he had to act. He lunged forward towards the one who fired at him, he extended his leg and his foot collided with the man's chest, completely caving in his ribcage.
For him it was all slow motion, he turned in place to face two others that where standing next to each other, he could see that where already firing even though the guns weren't aimed at him yet, behind them on the other side of the room Alt could see the briefcase that was rigged with what he could see was C4. The timer was on the twelve second mark. He jumped forward much like he did before though when he neared them, he slid onto his knees and grabbed one of them by the back of their legs and swung.
His body flew out of the window, possibly crashing onto one of the police vehicles outside. Alt extended his knee and kicked the other, it was only when he saw that the body was heading towards the hostages did he do a double take and moved. He ran forward and stopped in front of the hostages just in time to grab the man he just kicked and grab him with one hand, though he didn't just drop him, instead he turned and threw him towards the other end of the group of civilians were and just about started to turn the weapon on them. No doubt to try and stop this from happening.
Too bad for him, his colleague smashed into him with enough force that they both crashed into the wall with enough force crack it. Alt was about to turn on the leader but stopped when he saw that the bomb was on the four second mark, quickly rounding on it instead. He dashed forward towards it and did the only thing he could think of. Closing the case, he held it to his chest, completely ignoring the bullets bouncing off his back and jumped.
The solid concrete and reinforced metal roof broke apart around his body as easily as dry wall would for someone else. He saw the sky and clouds that had begun to form but he could see also see the bright lights of three different polices ships that had surrounded the building, thankfully they weren't directly above him which gave Alt the space he needed. Even in the awkward situation he was able to use his strength to hurl the case into the air above him, it didn't go as high as he would have liked but it would get the job done.
The bomb exploded and the force of the blast forced Alt back down to where he came from. He had to admit, taking a bomb to the face wasn't something he's ever tried before but he was glad that he was able to stay conscious. He turned around mid-air and tried to bring his feet up in order to land but he couldn't, the momentum was just too much. He landed back through the hole he made right in front the crowd of hostages. He wasn't dazed though, he looked up to see the leader of the insurrectionists had his weapon aimed at the crowd.
Alt's eyes widened as he saw the first round being fired, he raised his hand in order to grab the bullet out of the air before it could hit the hostage. Though it didn't stop at just one, the man changed the weapon from single to fully automatic and began to spray the entire crowd. Alt moved, it wasn't cool or graceful. It was awkward and clumsy, he moved down the length of the crowd on all fours, trying to stand up but failing because he had to use his hands to stop the bullets from hitting the people.
When he reached the end of the group, the leader emptied his mag. Being perfectly honest his hands stung from the amount of bullets he caught and he slowly made his way to his feet. His eyes never leaving the leader as he made to walk over towards him "how... what... are you?" he stammered as he starred at Alt.
He stopped just in front of the leader "Atlas" was all he said before he jabbed the man in the face, breaking his nose and face as he did. He fell on his back completely knocked out. Alt took a breath, the adrenalin wearing off as he looked back at the crowd "are you all alright?" he asked them.
They didn't answer, they just stared at him, some had wide eyes, others had dropped jaws. Though none said a word. Before he could start to make his way out, the doors to the room opened and many fully armed and armoured men entered "GET ON THE GROUND!" one shouted "HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!"
He dropped to his knees and raised his hands, doing as he was told knowing that it would be best to not try and fight the police. At the moment, all he could do was hope that dad would understand.
It took ten minutes for something to happen. After Atlas was taken by the police, he was escorted out of the building and was nearly swarmed by the press who had both held cameras and drones in the air attempting to take footage of him. He counted nine questions with each step he took and didn't even look at them as he passed. He was moved into the back of an armoured truck and was strapped in with heavy cuffs, four men where in the back with him, each had their weapons aimed at him and the safety was off.
They didn't speak a word, he could hear their heart beats. Alt knows when someone is scared and each of these guys where. After a short drive the door was opened and he was escorted into the police station. Which is what led to where he was now, in an interrogation room. A hardened woman sitting across from him, it was a very stereotypical room.
A white and silver, a single table, two chairs and a one-way mirror on the wall. Though unlike most people who have no doubt been in this room, Alt was able to see through the mirror. The entire observation room was completely full, everyone was staring at him like he was an animal in a zoo "are you listening to me?" the woman asked him with a stern voice.
Alt turned back to her with a calm expression, though he didn't say anything back. He knew what was going to happen and he wasn't stupid enough to start talking about anything regarding him. He knew that ONI would already be on their way, and he didn't want to get his dad in trouble.
And it only took ten minutes, the sound of multiple heavy footsteps hit his ears, not even five seconds later the door to the room opened and his eyes widened at the sight, he was expecting an escort to take him back to base. Not for the Admiral of ONI herself to walk through. The interrogator didn't seem to know who she was "Excuse me, I'm in the middle of an interrogation" she said to her.
Parangosky didn't say anything back to her, just stood her ground and starred the woman down. Another man came in behind her, he was wearing a police uniform, but it seemed to be a lot more distinguished than the others "Owen" he said "get out" he added.
"But... sir" she stuttered.
"Get. Out" he said again.
The woman looked at me with narrowed eyes before she let out a sigh and made to leave, though not before scowling at Parangosky. As she left, the man, a captain he assumed gave the Admiral a nod before closing the door behind him. When before Alt was just waiting for the inevitable talk that would come when he got back to the base, he now knew that the interrogation was about to start now. The head of ONI walked forward and sat down in front of him, she placed both hands on the table and clasped them together as she looked down at him. Herself still noticeably taller than him.
"Thirty-Nine hostages, all saved with minimal injures. Eleven hostiles, seven eliminated, four survivors including the ringleader, all of which have been taken in for interrogation" she hummed to herself and let out a tut "I admit, this was not what I had in mind for your first mission, but you did well" she added.
Alt felt his eyebrows rose at her words "I did?" he asked unsure of himself.
"You did" she said before she turned to the large mirror on the wall and Alt saw as the reflective surface changed to what seemed to be a camera feed. ONI must have let an A.I into the system in order to take over the mirror. It showed the large atrium where the hostages were being taken. Soon after it showed Alt bust through the window and played the entire event "I'm sure Johnson and Mendez will want to go through the entire scenario with you later, and give you what you need in order to improve"
He was so shocked by what he was saying that he didn't notice the other name being mentioned "so... I'm not in trouble?" he asked hesitantly.
She smirked down at him, though not in a fun kind of way "the idea of punishment was mentioned and I'm sure Stevens will want to have words with you later" he looked down and sighed at that, no liked being yelled at by parents "though this has provided us with an opportunity we may not want to ignore"
"Ma'am?" he said back wanting to be respectful to woman who made sure he was raised the way he was.
"They've given you a name" she said and Alt looked back to the mirror which now showed dozens of different news feeds. Each one was angled against him but the primary one showed a figure busting out of the building's roof. Thought the headline is what got his attention 'WHO IS THE SUPERMAN?'
"That's a bit on the nose" he commented more to himself then her.
"That doesn't matter" she commented as she turned back to him "this was always the point of Atlas, to be out there seen by everyone. Yes, the names a gimmick but it serves its purpose. I want you to listen to me very carefully because this is the one of the very rare moments where I can tell someone the complete truth" Atlas frowned at her words, but he turned around to face her and placed his own hands on the table.
Taking that as conformation that he was listening she continued "after this meeting, you are going to get on a pelican and head back to the section three base. Stevens will be there waiting for you and you have the journey back to say your goodbyes. Normally I'd one you to have a couple more years to get older but the identity you and Stevens have been using will be realised soon if it hasn't already. As an agent of ONI, Stevens will be going on his own missions and moving on to other projects which means that he'll be away from you for extended periods of time, you'll be able to stay in contact with him but it will be limited communication" it took everything Atlas had not to speak out at that, though he was able to see the point. For all intents and purposes his dad was a solider and they have to go on leave in order to serve all the time. It sucks but he understands.
"You are going to spend the next year and a half in that base training with the Spartans. During that time, you are going to be living the life of a Spartan meaning that you will be working nonstop all day every day. There's no doubt in my mind that while you're there, doctor Halsey will try and preform her own tests and experiments on you. I want you to know that you can say no to any you see fit, you will answer directly to Chief Mendez and he will be in charge of your training. After that time, there will be an evaluation of you, everything about you. If you pass, then project Atlas comes to an end"
This was a lot for Alt to take in, he didn't like the idea of being directly under the woman who didn't like him and no doubt wants to open him up. He didn't know what to think about working with the Spartans, he could see the appeal and a part of him thought that it could even be fun though there was another part that thought the Spartans wouldn't want him there and that would just make the entire situation awkward. It was the last part that really got his attention, the end of project Atlas, how would that work?
"Instead, there will be a new protocol put into place within the UNSC systems" she smirked as she looked at the mirror which still showed the news feed "the Atlas contingency. That is you, if a world has a strong insurrectionists presence, any type of unknown that could be alien in nature. That is what you will be used for. In plain view for all to see, I want the entire human race to see what you can do"
So much was going through his head but one thing just had to be said "you planned all this out on the way here from the base?" he asked.
She didn't say anything but after a moment a very small smile came onto her face "no, this has been in the works for a while. Though you did accelerate it quite a bit with your actions" before she could continue her watch chimed "the Pelican is on the roof, I suggest you get moving"
He was still in a shocked state at what he was hearing so all he could do was give a dull nod before slowly getting to his feet and leaving the interrogation room.
Admiral Parangosky stood quietly as she looked out of the large window on her personal flag ship. The planet Reach getting smaller and smaller as they flew away back to Mid-Night facility, those meetings were always so tiresome but thankfully this one was defiantly more eventful than most. Not to mention she defiantly got what she wanted from it, the higher ups within the UNSC now knew about him and what he could do, they were mostly united in the goals for him and all were ready to lend aid when it was needed.
There was only one small hiccup that was currently walking up behind her, glancing over her shoulder she could see Stevens being escorted by two guards, his hands cuffed behind his back "all things considered, I thought you did very well with him" she commented.
"So did I" he said back calmly, as if he didn't notice that he was guarded and his hands where bond.
"It's a shame you allowed your loyalties to change" she turned around fully to face him "I thought it was made very clear when this all started that you were not to keep anything out of the reports on him" her voice became much harder, much sterner and her face contorted into a frown.
"It was" Stevens agreed with a nod, then he even gave her a small shrug "I guess your plan worked too well. I started to be more loyal to him then to ONI" there wasn't even a hint of fear in his voice, even though he knew full well that he could be killed, tortured as an example or God knows what "I finally got him out of that base, he had some semblance of a normal life I didn't want you to take from him" he tried to explain.
"Do you have any idea how important that ability of his is?" she asked the rhetorical question "he was able to hear 058 on the other side of that forest, while she was up on a tree. Impressive, no doubt about that. But in the city he was able to hear someone scream two miles away, he was able to ignore the millions of other sounds that would be going on. Even somehow able to zero in on that scream despite how many others must having been going on the exact same time, all the parties, the horror movies, the accidents and even some people having a really good fuck" she walked towards him and stopped only a few feet away, the anger very clear on her face "he was able to find the exact spot the attack happened the second it did. That alone makes him the perfect spy and put it with everything he can already do, is potential and value doubles and you prevented us from testing, improving and adapting plans to that ability" she turned on her heel and mode back to the window "Brig" she ordered.
The two soldiers moved back out the room and dragging Stevens with them, again he didn't argue or fight it. That was what really annoyed Parangosky, the fact he knew that he was safe. Oh sure, he's going to be in cell for a good few years as punishment for what was essentially purposeful sabotage of a vital military asset. But she couldn't kill him, no matter how much she wanted too, he was too important and unfortunately Atlas wasn't stupid enough to think that Stevens would just randomly die. And if he found out that ONI was the one who did, then all of this would go to waste.
For now, imprisonment would have to do. The door opened again and from the reflection in front of her, she could see a young woman limp into the room with the use of a pair of crutches "Spartan-019" she as she turned around to face one of the many Spartans who couldn't handle the augmentation procedures and thus washed out of the program "Serin, wasn't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes Ma'am" she responds immediately, raising her hand to give her a salute. Though in doing so dropped one of the crutches she used to walk.
The head of ONI walked forward to the young woman and bent down to pick up the crutch "I'd like to speak to you about an opportunity" she said handing the walking aid back to the Spartan wash out.
Ok all, I hoped you enjoyed this one. I know a lot happened here and if there are any other lore mistakes I made, please forgive but I think I'm ok for now.
I knew Atlas was going to join the Spartans, but I also knew that he would have to be his own thing as well. Next chapter might be journal log entry like the first or a mix of both styles. Anyway, let me know what you all think about what's happened.
P.S: A ship for Atlas will never be a important part of the story but I am going to through one in there. So who would you like to see Alt get with, at the moment I'm torn between Serin Osman or Miranda Keys, let me know what you think and if there's another you'd want to see.
Next Chapter: Return of Hope
