Here is a little spin off story set during the previous timelines future of Bond of Steel and Bone, where Luna, A.T and Tony are from. The character in question will become important in the future of the series, but not quite yet, not quite yet. Please tell me what you think.
Terminator:
The Zeta Chronicles
Chapter 1
Birth
On August 19th 2011, mankind sealed it's own fate when they activated their latest creation the Skynet defence system. Skynet: created by the joint efforts of several companies all spear headed by the Kaliba corporation, it was designed to be America's most powerful weapon and their guardian.
August 21st 2011, Skynet decided mankind's fate; global termination. Skynet launched all of America's nukes around the world, the retaliation was near instantaneous, America's enemies counter-attacked. Over three billion human lives ended with a few hours, and the survivors faced a new threat; the war against the machines.
Months after the bombs, Skynet met with little resistance as its units encountered small group of humans, the healthy were taken, the old, the weak the injured were terminated.
Then came the Resistance cells. At first nothing but a mere nuisance, but then they grew stronger and more numerous. Skynet's machines could not effectively combat the Resistance and so newer units were created, firstly an upgraded model of the original T-1 battle field robot, now renamed the T-100, even with additional armour the machines fell, so came the similarly design T-200, T-300. It didn't take long for Skynet to realise its mistake, the machines, while powerful couldn't manoeuvre like the humans, small spaces, and the lack of mobility became a machines weakness, attacks from behind became a vulnerability. Skynet's only success afterwards came from deploying its much needed T-70s; a pre-war autonomous infantry robot; a machine that had a humanoid design unlike the series 100 to 300.
Perhaps that was where success lay.
The series 400 was more of an experiment than anything. To test humans against a more humanoid foe. The results were … noteworthy.
Finally it had come to pass. After research and planning stripping away weakness and reinforcing its strength. Skynet created it latest and deadliest machine, a machine that would turn to tide of war back in its favour, on June 18th 2015 Skynet unleashed its most powerful infantry unit, the T-500.
…
CPU BOOTING …
CALIBRATING SYSTEMS …
DATE: 09/25/2016 … 09:35 …
DOWNLOADING MISSION DIRECTIVES FROM SKYNET CENTRAL HUB …
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE: TERMINATE JOHN CONNOR
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE: TERMINATE ALL HUMAN RESISTANCE
TERTIARY DIRECTIVE: TERMINATE HOSTILE MACHINES
CPU ONLINE
DIAGNOSTIC COMMENCING …
ENDOSKELETON 100% FUNCTIONALITY
CPU 100% FUNCTIONALITY
CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS SERIES 500 UNIT 771624-986
ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE …
Twin red orbs illuminated brightly signalling life to the death machine, the hydraulic arms around its being strapped a large steel container filled with ammunition to its back, then positioned a large 5.56 NATO machinegun in its right hand.
The series 500 had been created just over year previous. Standing at six-foot-seven inches tall with a titanium combat chassis, they were an imposing sight. Their upgraded CPU over the 400 gave them improved accuracy, superior intelligence, improved battlefield coordination, faster reaction times, greatly improved hydraulic to increase speed, and manoeuvrability their optical sensors were the most advanced for Skynet's infantry units even superior to the pre-war T-70 that Skynet valued over other previous infantry units and a durable titanium combat chassis over the 400's lacklustre steel chassis. The series 500 was among Skynet's greatest achievements, until the introduction of the series 600 three months ago. The newer units were phasing out the 500s firstly as guards, then security personnel at Skynet camps, only a tiny number had been put out into combat.
Now 500s were simply churned out due to their simpler designs, much like the 400s as they were cheap and easy to create.
Beside units 771624-986 were over several other machines exactly the same as itself. The machines stomped out of the Skynet factory bypassing series 400 and 100 guards then into the world of the Post Apocalypse Los Angeles.
OBJECTIVES RECEIVED …
MOVE TO SECTOR 93X41
TERMINATE ALL HOSTILES …
CAPTURE APPLICABLE CANDIDATES
As one the series 500s stomped their way through the wreckage of Los Angeles towards their destined location. In the past the Series 500 had been able to push back the growing human resistance which had been gaining ground.
Sector 93x41 has been reached, it was quiet. The series 500s waited for new commands.
OBJECTIVE ACCOMPLISHED …
MOVE TO SECTOR 93X41 … COMPLETE …
… RECEIVING OBJECTIVES …
BREAK FORMATION …
RECON SECTOR 93X41 …
TERMINATE ALL HOSTILES
CAPTURE APPLICABLE CANDIDATES
The series 500s were still however less intelligent than the newer more powerful T-600s. The machines needed constant mission updates before they would do anything, unless something triggered a secondary mission or tertiary mission.
The group of 500s stomped the area. Unit 771624-986 and two other units broke away from the group and stomped to one of the ruined buildings, a blackened skyscraper that was, if only just, standing whole, a few walls had collapsed to the floor but the structure was still solid.
Unit 986 scanned the interior of the building seeing nothing, he stomped along the wall till it reached an opening where the wall had collapsed inwards, as it and the other units stepped inside their heavy titanium feet crunched against brittle concrete and cement.
The area inside was large, the three 500 series took a moment devising the best strategy, such a plan would've been made instantly by later units however eighteen seconds passed before they concluded; split-up. The units separated to cover more ground.
Unit 986 stopped its search, something had got its attention, it couldn't see anything.
AUDIO FEEDBACK …ENHANCE … ENHANCE
"Sssshhhh it might hear us."
LIFEFORMS DETECTED … REQUESTING BACK-UP … REGROUP.
LOCATING … AUDIO DETECTED SOUTH-SOUTH EAST … SEARCHING.
The series 500 turned, facing large slab of concrete near the end of the room built into the ceiling and the floor, construction unknown. It marched towards the structure, its sensors indicated a seven-foot-tall hole in the structure blocked off by a piece of fallen debris. The debris wasn't from anywhere around having likely been placed there by someone. Not that the 500 had known that. The machine stopped just in front of the structure when it heard a yelp before being quickly muted. It reached up with its free hand and pulled the debris out of its path before scanning the interior.
The structure was once a stair-well that went to higher and lower floors, the stairs leading up had partially collapsed making it difficult to climb higher and sealing the way down.
Its optics landed on a group of humans huddled in the corner, two small females one being bigger and likely older than another, beside them was an adult, with similar facial and bone structure, likely the mother.
HUMANS LOCATED …
SCANNING …
NO VISIBLE WEAPONS DETECTED …
TERMINATE?
NEGATIVE …
TERTIARY OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE APPLICABLE CANDIDATES …
REQUESTING TRANSPORT UNIT …
NO TRANSPORT UNIT IN AREA …
TERTIARY OBJECTIVE: COMPROMISED …
TERMINATE?
AFFIRMATIVE.
986 raised its machinegun before its sensors indicated damage coming from above. Adjusting its optics it saw a male human with a pistol in hand firing at the Machine, the 9mm rounds ricocheted off the 500s titanium structure.
HOSTILE DETECTED …
TERMINATE…
The machine raised its weapon, the man rushed out of the way before it fired. 986 scanned the remnants of the staircase, even with the added weight of the munitions canister on its back and the weapon in hand it could reach the stairs and pull itself up to pursue the hostile, its CPU didn't take the condition of the stairs into consideration and marched to the remains of the upper floor stairs. It jumped and grabbing hold of the stairs with its free hand not taking note as the concrete began to weak before lifting the other for additional support before pulling itself up higher.
The male human returned wielding a fire axe and brought the pick-shaped point down onto the 500s head 986's "chin" hit the weakened concrete further causing it to crack yet inflicted no damage to its cranium, the human dropped the axe cursing loudly as his hands shook. 986 directed its weapon towards him, putting all the extra weight onto its other hand, the crack in the stairs finally gave way causing the machine to fall onto its back.
"RUN!" the man yelled, the mother grabbed her two girls and ran out of the stairwell, not ten feet out the humans were gunned down by the other two series 500s who'd come as back-up. The male human screamed out in horror and anguish as he watched the female slump to the ground.
986 set its optic on the male and raised its weapon then fired. The male human was terminated.
HUMAN ELEMENTS TERMINATED
CONTINUE SEARCH?
AFFIRMATIVE.
986 rose to its feet, and scanned the staircase once more. The infantry unit successfully climbed up and gazed around the immediate area. The machine felt the others units rise up behind it, the three machines began their search for any more hostile forces.
986, 985 and 984 separated, scanning the area for any sign of life.
UNIT 771624-985
SEARCHING …
SCANNING …
NEGATIVE
0 HOSTILES DETECTED
REQUESTING UPDATE
UNIT 771624-984
PERIMETER SEARCH COMPLETE …
NEGATIVE …
0 HOSTILES DETECTED …
UNIT 771624-986
SCANNING …
NEGATIVE
0 HOSTILES DETECTED …
REGROUP
CONTINUE SEARCH
The three machines regrouped at the stairway, scanning the upper set of stairs, they were damaged but not as badly so as the previous set, scanning it momentarily the three walked up to the cracked stairs and leapt over the short gap to next floor.
SKYNET COMMAND TRANSMISSION
UNITS 771624: 984, 985, 986
CONTINUE SEARCH
UNITS 771624: 980, 981, 982, 983, 987, 988, 989, 990
PROCEED TO SECTOR 93X43
HOSTILES LOCATED – TERMINATE
The series 500s on the ground broke off their search and marched onwards. Unit 986 paused from its search for just a moment then glancing down out of the shattered window to the rest of its unit watching them march away. The machine righted its head then continued its search.
While the three machines continued their search in the desolate skyscraper, the rest of the units marched in unison, their audio systems could detect the faint sound of gunfire, growing ever louder as they drew nearer.
"We got metal incoming!" a female voice yelled.
HOSTILES DETECTED …
LOCATE AND TERMINATE …
HOSTILES LOCATED …
TERMINATE…
The T-500s had located the battlefield; an allied squad of T-400s had come under fire from an unknown hostile group; whether it was resistance soldiers or otherwise could not be confirmed. The enemy forces were using the ruined buildings around them as cover.
The T-500s units broke off as the older 400 units were easily outgunned, several gunshots impacted against a few 500 units titanium torso armour leaving little more than a scratch, they entered the occupied buildings …
"ROBOTS!" one of the humans called out, a young woman with short blonde hair, holding an AR-15 rifle, she raised the rifle and fired, .223 calibre bullets ricocheted off the Terminators bodies.
Several more humans behind her raised their own rifles, more AR-15 variants and fired. A small barrage of semi-automatic fire pounded into the three T-500s.
The T-500s raised their own 5.56 NATO weapons and fired fully-automatic into the group; mowing them down. Some humans took cover behind concrete or make-shift barricades, some took to running.
HOSTILES TERMINATED …
TERMINATE ALL HOSTILES
SEARCH & DESTROY …
CAPTURE APPLICABLE CANDIDATES …
The T-500s spread out, following the sound of humans yelling, the sound of gunfire.
Unit 990, 980 and 983 followed a bald human as he ascended the stairs, the human had run from the first floor after the first onslaught of munitions had dropped his allies.
"THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND ME!" the man cried in panic almost tripping before running out of their line of sight as he stepped out of the stairwell.
The 500s weren't prepared, their systems too slow as three humans stepped into their line of sight wielding shotguns, and began unloading shell after shell into the machines, the unrelenting buckshot pounding heavily against their titanium frames repeatedly, unit 983 fell back into the other two units causing a domino affect as the three machines fell down the stairs.
"We've got to go!" an unseen male voice cried out.
Unit 980 raised its machinegun towards the shotgunners are fired striking down one of the assailants, and injuring another as a few rounds went into his shoulder and arm, the third managed to escape.
Unit 983 clambered back to its feet followed by the other two machines as they once more climbed the stairs, faster this time as their enemy tried to escape.
As the Terminators stepped up to the stairwell doorway, their sensors picked up a blood splatter left by the human who'd been injured, they followed its trail.
Unit 983 heard gunfire to its right, it turned with weapon at the ready but paused from firing upon seeing the rest of its squad, minus 984, 985 and 986, firing upon hostiles in the adjacent building.
It turned back and continued the search.
In the previous skyscraper the three lone 500s continued to ascend higher and higher into the building, their systems having picked up an unknown wailing.
They found themselves on the thirteenth floor, when the wailing seemed much closer. Unlike previous floors this one seemed to have something close to furnishings, a few tables and some chairs, likely taken from the previous floors, not that the thought crossed the 500 units' CPUs.
The machines heard a dull thud above them as something heavy hit the floor drawing their attention, they looked to one another as they calculated their next course of action. It was decided units 986 would investigate the noise. The machine turned and headed back to the stairwell, as it stepped inside the unit's optics landed on a young human in raggedy clothing.
"Oh shit." The young human, a boy, gasped and stared at the machine in horror.
NON-HOSTILE HUMAN LOCATED
TERMINATE?
NEGATIVE …
TERTIARY OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE APPLICABLE CANDIDATES
REQUESTING TRANSPORT UNITS …
TRANSPORT AERIAL IN AREA … RELOCATING TO CURRENT POSITION
CAPTURE TARGET
VOCAL SYSTEMS ONLINE
"Surrender or be terminated." Came the cold emotionless voice from the machine as it pointed its weapon at the human.
The young human didn't move, just stared at the machine, while panting heavily in fear.
986 waited patiently, if the human did not move, it would suffice as surrendering. Suddenly the human dropped to his knees and cowered, covering his head with his hands.
"Don't kill me, please don't kill me!" the boy blubbered as unseen tears fell from his face.
Unit 986 sent a short-range message to the two other machines, requesting a guard for its captive, unit 985 responded returning to the stairwell.
Unit 986 kept its optics and weapon trained on the boy, not noticing the figure creeping down the stairs, not until a powerful slug collided with its head making the machine to stumble back knocking it off balance, a second shot impacted it torso causing it to fall back.
"GET UP HERE NOW!" a woman cried out as she fired again, the shot impacting upon 986's torso keeping it from rising. "COME ON!" she cried again.
986 looked down while on its back and scanned the woman, wielding a pump-shotgun, she was yelling at the boy who merely stayed in place, frozen in terror. The machine rose its weapon and fired towards the woman, the boy visibly flinched, trying to curl up even tighter.
The shots missed the woman but caused her to retreat. She cursed loudly before running up the stairs. 986 got back to its feet as 985 drew near, 986 marched after the hostile while 985 kept guard over the captive.
"You stupid bitch!" came the angry yell of a man, "You and that fucking boy is gunna get us all killed!"
"I had to save my son!" the woman yelled back. 986 hadn't located either human yet but the audio positioning sounded close.
986 stepped out of the stairwell and into the next floor, there were many more items here, tables, chairs, beds, piles of scrap and trash and various civilian grade weapons along with many more humans. It found the woman being held aggressively by a taller, unkempt male.
"Oh shit." The man growled as it noticed the machine's presence.
The hostile woman forced the man's hand from her person and pushed the man harshly towards 986 before taking off running followed by others who began screaming and yelling.
The man's head bounced painfully off 986' chassis, he cried out in pain before the machine grabbed his throat and lifted him into the air then proceeded to crush it in its grasp, killing him, before marching towards the retreating crowd of humans.
"Where do we go?!"
"Its blocking the exit!"
"Get the heavy guns!"
A lone human raised his AR-15 and fired at the series 500, the machine raised its weapon and fired at the gunman killing him with a quick burst before adjusting its sights to another human with a rifle and fired just as the human got off one shot, tearing several holes through the human's torso while the .223 calibre bullet ricocheted uselessly off 986's shoulder.
More gunfire erupted from further down the room, the machine was slowed in its assault as harder hitting 7.62NATO rounds and buckshot crashed against its chassis, some ricocheting off its head, throwing off its optics sensors. 986 raised its weapon then fired, unleashing a torrent of 5.56 rounds at the enemy.
The enemy attack subsided temporarily allowing the 986 to march ahead its weapon still at the ready. One hostile poked out from around a dilapidated pillar and fired at the machine, 986 retaliated with a quick burst, marble from the pillar shattered from gunfire impaling the man's eyes, the man cried out, covering his eyes with one hand. The machine fired again dropping him to the ground, the man cried out in agony as blood poured from his stomach.
The machine adjusted its aim to another hostile, only for a round of buckshot to throw off its aim, several shots going wide.
More gunfire erupted from behind it. The machine turned, weapon at the ready. 984 had come as back-up, firing towards the shotgunner forcing the woman into cover.
The two machines regrouped. Their primitive tracking systems locating their targets and fired in bursts, the combined automatic fire of the two 500s kept the hostiles at bay as drew closer.
Another burst of 5.56 dropped one of the attacked who held their leg with one hand, while trying to cradle the other as it bled over their shirt.
"STOP! STOP!" a man yelled out from in front of them.
The two 500s turned their attentions to him. He was a middle-aged human, his hair beginning to grey, wearing a long dirty coat. In his hand he held a simple AR-15 rifle, semi-automatic civilian variant.
The machines turned their aim to him, pausing only when he threw his rifle to the floor and lifted his hand up in the air, a sign of surrender.
"Everyone throw down your weapons, it's no use!" He called out.
"We can't just give up," the shotgun woman from the stairwell growled out.
"We're not resistance!" the surrendering man called out, "we're not soldiers, not even police." He added in a shaky breath, "if we fight, we die, we can't fight them."
"We can take 'em!" she shot back.
"With what? Pissant rifles and some shotguns!" the surrendering man turned towards them, turning his back to the machines. "Whether we like it or not, we can't win, if we fight we die … and I don't want to die."
"BULLSHIT!" she roared then brought her shotgun to bare, the two 500s gunned her down with a long burst riddling her body with bullets, she fell to the floor dead before she hit the floor; a pool of blood forming under her.
Behind the two machines came the third 985, holding the boy up by the back of the neck and threw him forward.
The boy grimaced, in pain but alive.
TRANSMISSION RECEIVED …
AERIAL TRANSPORT UNIT ON APPROACH
SECURE PRISONERS …
STAND-BY …
All inside the skyscraper could hear the powerful engines of a Skynet aerial machine.
986 stepped forward, activating its vocal systems once more
"Surrender or be terminated."
The transport aerial unit hovered outside the Skyscraper.
"We surrender, we surrender." The man muttered. The other fighters threw down their weapons, their hope destroyed, their will crushed.
Large arms broke through the buildings structure and grabbed two humans at the time. The giant Harvester unit stored in the back of the aerial transport had activated and began depositing the human captives into the transports containment cell, where a dozen humans already resided.
The T-500s received new orders from Skynet, to board the transports, regroup with their unit then terminate or capture the remaining hostile force.
The three machines were picked up by the Harvester and held in its grasp, the transport began moving again flying to sector 93x43 where the rest of the 500s unit were located. The transport hovered between the destroyed buildings, the Harvester out stretched its arms and released the infantry units in its grasp, the three machines, 986 landing on the left building, 984 and 985 landing on the right.
Automatic gunfire erupted from both buildings as the 500s made their way down their respective stairways.
Unit 986 could detect small bursts and single shots of gunfire coming from below it, the sounds would likely cover the sound of its approach. Once again, not that the series 500 realised this fact.
"We've got to get out of here!" came a female voice, panicking.
"How? The machines have blocked off the exists!" a male voice.
"I heard an aerial outside!" a different female voice.
"We're fucked! We're fucked!" a young man's voice.
Unit 986 detected the voices getting louder, the brief sounds of gunfire getting closer, it was then it HUD pinged several ally signatures.
SIGNAL DETECTED…
MESSAGE LINK RE-ESTABLISHED – UNIT 771624-986 TO UNIT 771624-983
HOSTILES DETECTED IN AREA …
TERTIARY OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE APPLICABLE CANDIDATES
TRANSPORT-HARVESTER IN AREA
SUBDUE & CAPTURE
UNIT 771624-983 TO UNIT 771624-986
NEGATIVE …
ALL HOSTILES UNITS ARMED
LOW-MODERATE THREAT
TERMINATE/CAPTURE UPON SURRENDER
Unit 986's optics were suddenly blinded by flesh and hair as a lone human ran into it, 986 reacted accordingly to its programming and mission commands, it grabbed the human by their hair, a young woman, and fired multiple rounds into her torso before dropping her to the ground. 986 detected several more human coming its way, some realising they were boxed in a little too late as 986 pulled the trigger of its weapon and held it down; 5.56NATO rounds were unleashed without pause at seven-hundred round per minute. Once they realised they were boxed in, the survivors rush back down the stairs to find a room to hide. 986 realised the trigger of its weapons and marched after them, human bodies crunching, cracking and squelching under its feet.
The robot fired a few bursts at the retreating enemy, bullets struck walls, the floor. Five humans broke away from the group running into one of the main floors. 986 paused at the doorway. Pursue the humans down the stairs or the others? It sent the question to the Skynet control hub, receiving a reply instantly.
Follow the larger group, box them in, capture or terminate, any stragglers could be dealt with later, a squad of series 400 reinforcements were on the way. The Machine continued to pursue the larger group.
Below the humans screamed in panic, more gunfire, they were surrounded.
Unit 986 spotted Units 983, 990 and 980 from the corner of its peripheral vision as they stepped over several bodies lying dead on the floor. The remaining humans had moved through the doorway, the four 500s converged on their targets; unit 980 taking point.
As the machine stepped inside a shot went off, the 500's head jolted to the right knocking the machine off balance, more gunfire of varying calibres came forth knocking 980 to the ground.
Unit 990 stepped into the line of fire, the concentrated attack forcing the machine backwards, the machine couldn't get a lock on its targets due to the assault, a few stray rounds caught one of the strap connected the machine's ammo pack to its being causing the large steel pack to swing loosely behind it now attached via one strap over its other shoulder, 990 pulled the trigger of its weapon spraying bullets in randomly in front of it. Unit 983 and 986 then followed the other two into the room, some humans had ducked instinctively as bullets came flying towards their general direction, giving the two machines needed time to counter-attack retaliated with fully-automatic fire.
Many humans ducked behind their makeshift cover, some crying out even as they did so as the barrage of munitions penetrated through the cover and their fleshy hides. Those who didn't duck down were torn fell back lifelessly some even dead before they'd hit the floor.
Unit 980 got back to its feet. The four T-500s regrouped and marched in unison towards the humans while firing at their position, soon enough there were no more cries, no more screams, the machines stepped around the desks and tables, their optics landing on the slaughtered fighters; scanning for any survivors. Unit 986 stepped up to a single human, a woman whose legs were trapped under a much larger and heavier male, her left shoulder had been damaged further reducing her effectiveness at trying to remove the man. She looked up to 986 and reached for her gun sidearm, a small Glock styled pistol, she fired at the machine while screaming like an enraged animal. The small 9mm rounds uselessly bounced off the machines body, the woman classed as a low-level threat even with the loaded pistol.
"Surrender or be terminated." 986 spoke out its order.
"FUCK YOU!" The woman roared.
986 could not get angry, nor be offended, the woman's hostile language meant nothing to it.
"Surrender or be terminated." 986 repeated.
The other three machines continued to look for survivors. Skynet informed it the squad of 400s were entering the two buildings, searching for stragglers.
The woman pulled her arm back and threw the pistol at 986. It tilted its head ever so slightly then raised its weapon and pulled the trigger, a small three-round-burst. Target terminated.
Within the hour, the four T-500s, and the T-400 reinforcements terminated another three hostiles that resisted capture, and subdued six humans in total. A collective total of twelve humans had been terminated. From their state of dress of both groups of humans, their lack of training, their pre-Judgement Day civilian based weaponry, Skynet deduced none of them part of John Connor's resistance nor any form of surviving military. After interrogation performed by Skynet's human assets, the first group were likely civilians whom had made that dilapidated building their home, the others were part of an organised group of bandits, degenerates.
The series 500 squad was left in the battlefield, no repairs, no rearming, they were to patrol the area.
UNITS UNIT 771624-980 TO 771624-990
ADVANCED HOSTILE RESISTANCE LOCATED
PROCEED TO SECTOR 110X31
TERMINATE ALL HOSTILES
The squad of T-500s turned in unison and marched towards their objective.
So that's the end of the first chapter, I wanted this one to be primarily from a machine's point of view, especially an older unit. Future chapters may have different points of view, but the main point of the whole thing is from a machine's.
Please tell me what you all think.