Atlas

Basics
Name: Atlas

Breed: Belgian Malinois

Training: Military

Age:

Physical Appearance
Atlas is seventy-five pounds of graceful, surprisingly silky, and extraordinarily fit military dog. He exhibits the classic, elegant lines of the Belgian Malinois breed, as well as the black and tan coloring, and his chiseled head is in good proportion to his body. He stands squarely on all four paws and regards the world around him with alert intelligence.

Personality Traits
Atlas tends toward jealousy and is fiercely protective of Evelyn Jones, who was the first to elicit a genuine reaction from him after his previous handler died and he fell into depression.

Skills
Among his many other talents, Atlas can...
 * bite to restrain, wound, or kill;
 * track;
 * jump through doors and windows;
 * navigate tricky obstacle courses;
 * open doors with various kinds of handles.

Biography
Atlas was originally trained by David Cruz, and then adopted by Cruz's friend Calhoun to be his military working dog and partner. Years later, while Calhoun was recovering from a wound in the hospital, his Navy SEAL unit used Atlas to terrorize a prisoner. Unbeknownst to them, Atlas's harness carried a camera, which recorded the event as well as a very illegal agreement every man in the unit other than Calhoun reached with the prisoner. Calhoun saw the recording, put it on a microSD card, and implanted it under Atlas's skin in place of his tracking chip. He then sent a cryptic message to Cruz and was subsequently "killed in action" under suspicious circumstances.

Atlas suffered PTSD and fell into despair upon the death of his handler, and was returned to the United States where he eventually ended up back in the care of his old trainer, Cruz. However, Atlas wouldn't do more than eat on command until Lyn came to work with him. He improved rapidly under her attentions, but also grew fiercely protective of her. He saved her once from assault, and helped Cruz find and rescue her when she was kidnapped in Extreme Honor.

Relationships
After his handler, Calhoun, died overseas, Atlas returned to the United States and fell under the care of Lyn and Cruz, who eventually adopted him after he was officially killed and unofficially retired.

Trivia
Atlas...
 * interrupted Cruz's first attempt to kiss Lyn, and protested their intimacy several times thereafter out of jealousy.
 * was the first military rehabilitation case handled by Hope's Crossing Kennels.