The Legacy Of 2144: The Beginning

Chapter 3: The First Battle

Three years elapsed since my induction into Atlas. At 15, I emerged as an adept soldier, honed in combat skills from hand-to-hand techniques like Taekwondo and Muay Thai to proficiency with diverse weaponry—knives, swords, and firearms. By 12, I mastered handguns, progressing from a Beretta M9 to a Glock 19. Rigorous training expanded my expertise in automatic weapons like submachine guns (MP5) and assault rifles (M4A1). Now combat-ready, my firearm skills are finely tuned:

Firearm Skills:
Pistol: Level 10
Shotgun: Level 0
Sniper Rifle: Level 0
Assault Rifle: Level 10
SMG: Level 10
Rocket Launcher: Level 0
Grenade Launcher: Level 0
Energy Guns: Level 0
Heavy Machine Guns: Level 0

The next firearm skill that I would probably like to train on is probably on energy guns, mainly because most of the Atlas Soldiers are armed with laser rifles, in fact fully automatic laser rifles known as the "X388 Vector". Even though I haven't used one yet, I have seen them in action at the firing range. They are extremely fast, highly accurate, deadly and the amount of beams that they fire in one spray is insane. I'm uncertain how such a deadly weapon functions, but I didn't dare think what would happen if I was on the receiving end.

One Friday night, around 9 pm, that was when my first mission began. Commander Mark yelled his commands to gather at the command room, where I received my mission briefing, along with the other hundreds of Atlas Soldiers. "Alright soldiers, listen up. An old friend of mine just contacted me for backup. He is Commander Charles Williams, leader of the military faction "Peacekeepers". His team is currently struggling to take down a large and powerful entity. We aim to aid the Peacekeepers and take down that beast as a team. Any questions?" Commander Mark looked at us, waiting for a reply. The Atlas Soldiers looked at each other, expecting a question to be asked, and that was when I raised my hand. "Yes, Jack?" Commander Mark asked, turning his gaze towards me now. "Commander, what entity are we facing exactly?" I questioned. Commander Mark paused for a while, seemingly thinking about his reply.  "Sorry, kid. I'm not entirely sure either. However, based on the holographic SOS message left by Commander Charles, I can only assume that the entity we are about to face is large and powerful, based on the loud screeches it projects." Commander Mark's reply didn't ease my nerves, but I continued to put on my game face to make myself appear less intimidated. "Alright. Any other questions? No? Then head into the Truck located in the lower basement. Go, go! Make haste, soldier! The Peacekeepers need us!" Joining the Atlas Soldiers, I ran into the basement and got into the large military truck Commander Mark instructed us about.

As soon as the Garage Door opened, the truck rolled out towards Neon City, with Commander Mark taking the wheel. I was at the back of the truck, sitted with Sergeant Lance and a couple of other 30 Atlas Soldiers. As one truck could only fit 30, the remaining others had to take the other 9 trucks. "Alright, Jack. It's about time that you know your code name. Each of us has a different code name, based on the number located on the right-hand side of our assault armour. What does your number say, Jack?" Sergeant Lance questioned me. Looking down on the right-hand side of my armour, I see the white, bold number "188" written on it.  "188. The number on my armour says 188." I replied. Sergeant Lance nodded and smiled at me. "Exactly. That's your code name. Unit 188." Oh, so that's what the numbers meant! So the numbers written on our armours are our code names, like how Sergeant Lance's code name is "Unit 256". "Understood, Sergeant. From now on, my code name is "Unit 188."." Upon hearing that, Sergeant Lance smirked in approval. "Welcome to the assault team, Unit 188." Sergeant Lance said as he gave me a fistbump, and so did the rest of the other soldiers. 

As soon as we arrived at the centre of Neon City, we immediately got out of the truck and ran towards the sound of rapid gunfire. Following the direction of where the sounds came from, it led us towards the peacekeepers and their leader, Commander Charles. The Peacekeepers were soldiers dressed in white armour, with a little tint of red. On their shoulder armours, was a red peace sign on each of them: a symbol and reminder of what they are fighting for. Their leader, Commander Charles wore the same armour, but he wasn't wearing a helmet. He looked like he was in his 60s, having greyish slick-back hair and a white stubble beard, unlike Commander Mark's, which is blonde.