A. Finch

Though the invitation to move closer and view the map hung in the air Atari kept her place at the edge of the room, simply relaxing back against the wall into her previous position when the Admiral’s “At ease” rang through the room. The terrain concerned her little, and she had no say in the specifics of the mission. Instead of butting in and questioning things she let the captain take care of it and went back to studying the others, all but tuning out the idle conversation. It was but a buzzing in her ear.

Szabo seemed the most into the conversation, and his apparent additions sparked interest among the other Spartans, causing them to jump in with a few words themselves. Legs and Warren were both listening intently, leaning in towards the group and studying the map. It was likely that at least one of them would recommend a potential drop point to the captain, as each of them had jobs which made them more adept in determining such thing than the rest of the squad. It made no difference to Atari where the drop was, she could do her job almost anywhere. She preferred a higher point, working with all the others, both friend and foe, below her as that made tracking enemies and taking them out the absolute easiest, but it didn't make too much of a difference if she was on the same plane as the others. 

Atari was paying just enough attention to hear Legs ask when they were leaving, and it would have been a lie to say the same question hadn't crossed her mind. She decided then that it might actually not be a bad idea to pay some attention to the conversation, and pushed off the wall, taking a small step closer to where the map was.

Another downside to being short is that when tall people gather somewhere it can be near impossible to see over or around them. Such was the case with the group surrounding the map, and Atari rolled her eyes and sat down in a chair instead. She leaned back and folded her arms across her chest, listening, but not making it nearly as obvious as Warren or Legs, both of whom made it blatantly obvious that they were interested in the mission, possibly excited even, which was certainly justifiable. Their first real mission as a squad would be enjoyable to others who liked the idea of working as a team. Atari simply wanted to get out and prove her worth as a Spartan, and she didn't need a team for that, and it was clear she didn't want one.

All throughout their training, years and years at the base, Atari had made very few friends. Her days consisted of training and she didn't often fraternize with others in the program. There were some trainees that she had spoken to a handful of times, but overall she knew no one on a personal level, and wanted to keep it that way. She hadn't always been her cold, stoic self. Before her initiation into the Spartan program she had been a fairly normal little girl, in a fairly normal family. Her older brother and younger sister were her closest friends, and she had a group of kids in the neighborhood that she spent many days with, laughing and playing together. Unfortunately a side effect of the program was that you were forced to grow up very quickly. And for Atari that meant saying goodbye to her fun-loving childish nature. It would only serve to hinder her mission.