Atlas
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Atlas</default></title>
<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>
<label>Status</label><format><label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox>
Atlas was a giant beetle created by Panacea to aid Skitter in her fight against the Slaughterhouse Nine. Skitter used Atlas primarily as a mode of aerial transportation and thought of it as a mindless automaton/pet.
Physical Appearance
Atlas has a Hercules beetle body plan scaled up. Roughly two meters long and one and half meters tall at the shoulder and wide, large enough for his mistress to ride. He is colored black excepting some white along the edges of the rugged carapace that holds his wings. His legs are splayed out longer then a beetle of equivalent size would be and he has two mantis like scythe limbs. His horn curves up like a regular beetles but ends up pointing downward.<ref name="14.4 e1">Six and a half feet long, five feet across and five feet tall. A giant beetle. It looked like she had used a Hercules beetle as a starting point, but built it broader, with larger, longer legs and two forelimbs with what looked like praying mantis style blades. Sporting a black shell that looked almost ragged, the tips a gray-white, it also featured a single large horn that curved overhand, pointing down at the ground.
[...]
It ran on the ground, slower than me. Its shell parted behind me, revealing an overlarge, complicated set of wings. They began to beat, thrumming with sixty or seventy flaps a second, powered by an efficient machine of what I took to be a combination of biological hydraulics and musculature.
[...]
It dawned on me why.
My bugs normally had ingrained knowledge of how to function. This was a new lifeform. It had all the necessary parts. Amy had probably scaled everything up, given it every advantage in design I could want, counteracting all the problems that came with being proportionately larger. - Excerpt from Prey 14.4</ref>
Powers and Abilities
Atlas had the ability of mechanical flight, but could only handle a single full-grown person at a time. It was also durable enough to survive a ten to twelve foot crash without any noticeable damage. However, Skitter felt it was too fragile to survive any hostile actions while in air.<ref name="14.4">Prey 14.4</ref>
Atlas' large scythe-like talons could also be used as a weapon, though he had never actually engaged anyone with them. Though like his other legs, it was a hydraulic-based system that could not be utilized during flight and vice versa.
History
Background
After Panacea elaborated on her restrictions when it came to manipulating biology, Skitter asked Panacea if she could think of some other way to assist.
Convinced to help out in the fight against the Slaughterhouse 9, Panacea set out to create a form of transportation for Skitter upon overhearing Grue mentioning the lack of such.<ref name="14.4"/>
Post-Leviathan
Atlas was formed from the mass of bugs Skitter sent to Panacea, who created him using a Hercules beetle as its base. Skitter immediately used Atlas for flight upon meeting it to escape Crawler and the imminent PRT bombing.<ref name="14.4">Prey 14.4</ref>
Despite being based on a scaled up hercules beetle, Atlas had no instincts or any inherent knowledge of a beetle and required Skitter to fully manage its flight at all times. With trial and error (crashing once), Skitter managed to familiarize herself with its mechanics of flight to confidently fly it at a relatively high altitude away from the expected blast zone.
After Skitter returned from scouting the battlefield, Panacea modified Atlas once more to make it simpler to fly, by allowing it to repeat any previous action performed. This removed some of the focus Skitter required before, though she found it more irritating than helpful, as it may continue to fly without her should she be incapacitated. Panacea wanted to leave Atlas to starve to death but Grue used his new abilities to modify Atlas with a human digestive system.<ref name="14.5">Prey 14.5</ref>
Atlas was then utilized to perform aerial bombings and strafing (with grenades and a revolver) to remove the cars atop a frozen Cache and Clockblocker as well as to fend off both Mannequin and Crawler. After Glory Girl had been seriously injured by Crawler, Skitter unsuccessfully attempted to carry the combined weight of herself and Glory Girl to be evacuated. Instead, using Glory Girl's own flight ability, Skitter used Atlas to lead her to Panacea.
Post-Slaughterhouse Nine
When Skitter and Ballistic were sent in to deal with Parian. When captured by Parians friend Flechette Skitter brought in Atlas as a stop gap measure if she wasn't able to to convince her otherwise.
The Undersider's former benefactor made sure to remove Atlas from play when it came to betraying the team.
Used in the fight against Echidna, where Skitter had him land and use his scythe limbs to attack and to form flanking maneuvers with Weld.<ref name="19.5 e1">I stood on Atlas’ back as he descended to the road, shaking my mask to let the glass fall free before carefully pulling it back on. Weld glanced at me and nodded as I appeared at his left, helping to form a defensive line.
Weld’s hands started to change into long blades, and with the reach they afforded him, he was able to defend more ground.
I stepped off Atlas and let him stand on his own, his scythelike forelimbs raised. He wouldn’t be that good in a fight, but the clones were fragile, and two more weapons was better than nothing. My knife and baton slid free of their respective slots in my compartment, and I whipped the baton out to its full length. It offered me a little more reach, an excuse to take one more step away from Scapegoat’s body and the frozen Tecton. In this fashion, Weld, Atlas and I formed something of a triangle. - Excerpt from Scourge 19.5</ref>
Post-Echidna
During a quiet moment thinking to herself Skitter noted the stress and tear that was accumulating on Atlas.<ref name="21.2">Imago 21.2</ref>
Atlas eventually died when Skitter was incarcerated after turning herself in to the Protectorate, as it was unable to eat without Skitter's direct control.There were plans to turn him into a mold for a bronze statue, honoring everything the supposed villain did for the people of Brockton Bay and the Boardwalk.<ref name="23.3 e2">Atlas died. I wanted to let you know. Tattletale had him, but he wouldn’t eat or move. We asked for him, and we found a place for him. The guys say they think they know a good way to make a mold. They’re covering him in brass.
A way of saying you’re still with us. Take care of yourself.
-Char - Excerpt from Drone 23.3</ref>
His master would eventually be given a flight pack to make up for the mobility Atlas had given her.
Trivia
- Tattletale commented on the similarity of Atlas name and the mythic giants role of holding the heavens on his shoulders and skitters role of keeping the peace.
- There is an actual atlas beetle that is related to the Hercules beetle, though much larger.
- As a one-off artificial organic construction with no ability to breed Atlas is effectively genderless, regardless the beetle is still continually referred to as a 'He' in text and the choice is replicated here.
References
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