A\N: This chapter was re-betaed and re-uploaded on 2/15/13.

Chapter 4: Exodus

Five years had passed since Davis had returned to the alternate earth and it was a much different place from what it had been back then. Cars using new anti-gravity plating zoomed over the roadways driven by people far healthier and stronger then had ever been in humanity's history. Everywhere you looked, blobs of silver nanites could be seen scrubbing buildings clean and strengthening them by adding themselves to the structural framework. New diamond aerosols interlaced with nanites had created clear substances that functioned similar to glass but were virtually indestructible. Airplanes powered by plasma reactors and super strength alloys flew through the air at tremendous speeds, surpassing even the old supersonic jets. The air and the oceans were being cleaned and the ozone layer was being repaired. Even third world countries were slowly becoming industrialized despite the efforts of their own governments to keep them suppressed. Nanites introduced to those countries were cleaning rivers and strengthening bodies, giving entire cultures a new lease on life.

And deep below Death Valley, Arnold Davis and Asher Walters were preparing for war.

In secret underground bunkers built several years previously, the two worked tirelessly alongside their super-AI dubbed Heaven's Light to combat the scourge known as Skynet and free the human resistance. Day and night, massive machines assembled armies of powerful terminators. Armed with the most powerful weapons available as well as stronger armor and, most importantly, an unwavering loyalty to mankind, they were the ultimate soldiers. While some of the terminators constructed were human-like in appearance and could easily pass as human given their personality templates, many were more functional in design. Some had several arms and a lower center of gravity which allowed them to carry multiple weapons across any terrain. Many were tank-like, similar to the original T-1's, and there were also flight-capable fighter craft which were highly maneuverable and could fire multiple weapon types from plasma blasts to depleted uranium slugs and EMP bursts. As a matter of course, all of the terminators, and Heaven's Light itself, were hardened significantly against any form of EMP. Davis himself had gotten several upgrades over the last 5 years while keeping his most important functions intact. He was now many times larger, the size of a mini-van, and could transport massive amounts of material and personnel between dimensions. Finally, the trio had perfected what they believed to be the ultimate anti-terminator weapon: a collection of latest generation nanites inserted into a hollow shell filled with a buffer fluid and capped with an armor-piercing point. It was designed to penetrate a terminator's armor before releasing the nanite swarm and, like a virus, the nanites would swarm to the unit's CPU. The nanites would then either change the machine's primary directives using powerful electronic countermeasures or completely subsume the chips themselves, thus forcing the machine to either switch its allegiance or shut down completely. Even if the round failed to penetrate, the nanites would still be able to enter the machine so long as it was not perfectly sealed. Using this new form of intelligent ammunition, entire hordes of terminators could be taken over in minutes. The hidden bunkers had been churning out hundreds of thousands of rounds of various sizes and makes all for the express purpose of arming the human resistance when they crossed over.

Combined with the army of terminators and Heaven's Light, Skynet would be in for a rude awakening.

Finally, on July 4th, 2015 Ash and Davis were ready to begin transferring their army to the resistance. Thanks to the time difference between the two worlds and Davis' various upgrades, he had been able to send data packets to the resistance to update them on their progress and where they would be transferring into. Fortunately, Death Valley was still completely unused by both the resistance and Skynet due to its harsh climate so it was the ideal place to sneak in an army without Skynet noticing. As Ash and Davis would be gone for at least several weeks, a version of Heaven's Light had been installed into Trans-Dimensional Technologies' network infrastructure to run things in the absence of its CEO and President. Using scans of their faces, voice modulation software, and real-time modeling, Heaven's Light could even create on the fly digital avatars that were indistinguishable from the real thing should the need for video conferencing arise. Heaven's Light would continue to produce weapons, ammunition, and terminators should the resistance need reinforcing before the takeover was complete. Davis had been against having Ash come along but Ash had finally worn him down through sheer stubbornness.

Several weeks earlier…

"I don't see why you want to come along!" Davis argued. "This isn't some field trip to the zoo! This is a WARZONE! What part of that don't you understand?"

"I know it's a warzone Arnold!" Ash replied testily. "And I know what I'm getting into here!"

Davis' normally animated and cheerful face quickly became dark. If Ash looked close enough he thought he could see a hint of red in the machine's eyes.

"No. You don't." Davis stated forcefully, his patience seemingly strained. "You don't know what it's like to see death."

Ash's face twisted into an angry snarl. "How dare you!" He cried. "My wife and son were killed and I had to come and collect them from the hospital's morgue! Oh they might have cleaned off some of the blood but they sure as hell didn't stitch them up and make them look all nice! So don't tell me I don't know about death because I've lived with it for years!"

Davis' face didn't even twitch at this tirade. "It was indeed tragic what happened to you." He stated unemotionally. "Perhaps you have seen death on a small scale but I assure you, you have never been in a war. You haven't seen men blown apart by mortar fire and torn up by shrapnel."

Davis' voice grew darker as he spoke yet his voice never got louder. As Ash watched, his eyes became blood red and glittered like glass.

"You haven't seen men bleeding and dying, crying out to whatever god or devil they worship, desperately hoping for them to take away the agony or spare them from the death they know is coming. War is blood and guts and screams of torture on a massive scale. Fields of death where bloated bodies lie in the heat like so much rotted meat, waiting for the vultures to feast. Because when it comes down to it, that's what humans are! Fresh meat for the carrion birds! Life just keeps the meat fresh for a while!" He hissed vehemently.

Ash's face paled at the chilling coldness in the machine's voice as its blood red eyes glared in his. At that moment, Ash was reminded forcefully of just what Davis was; behind all the smiles and the jokes laid the cold, calculating mind of a machine designed for war and created by the most powerful battle A.I the world had ever seen. Only the ethical directives programmed into it by the resistance's scientists kept it in check. Ash carefully took a step back from the figure before him, his eyes unable to look away from the terrible emptiness within those blood-red orbs. Slowly, the color drained from Davis' eyes until they were their normal vibrant green once more. The machine appeared to take a deep breath and collect itself, though a small part of Ash's mind reminded him this was probably for Ash's benefit rather than any real need on the part of the machine. Davis blinked and slowly walked towards Ash, his face placid once again.

"Do you understand now?" Davis asked with quiet urgency. "You can live your life here, free of those horrors. Keep being President and run the company like you have been. You're a successful business man now and you have the world at your fingertips. Don't throw it away because you think you want to go on some grand adventure with me. Because, believe me, it's not grand in any sense, except maybe on the scale of destruction."

Ash sighed quietly, looking at Davis. "Yes, I do understand." He said gently. "I understand that war is horrible and you're right, I'm probably not ready for it. But do you understand that it is my choice to make?" He asked him. "You're my best friend and without you, none of this would have happened. But I still have the choice. It is my life and I choose to come with you, knowing the risks. If you take that from me…"

"Then I become no better than Skynet or any other Terminator, enforcing my will on you." Davis replied, finishing the thought solemnly, his eyes thoughtful. He looked back up at Ash. "And if I value your safety more than your freedom of choice?"

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Ash replied quietly, his gaze intent. "No doubt the scientists who created Skynet intended it to be a replacement for human pilots, human soldiers, to ensure that there would be no needless deaths on the battlefield. Computers, after all, are much more precise than humans and they don't bleed. I'm sure they figured they were saving lives too. And the near extinction of humanity was the result."

Davis looked at him steadily, his face set. "If you do this, then what happens to you will be on your head. Not mine or anyone else's."

Ash nodded. "I understand."

The two had not spoken of the argument since then as they had seemed to come to an understanding. Several more weeks past as boxcars filled with munitions and supplies were shipped via train to a secret location north of Las Vegas and then carried by helicopters to the rendezvous point within Death Valley itself. As the army and its containers of supplies were finally placed around Davis, he began to glow with his familiar red aura, this time much larger in size than before. After a few moments a tremendous roar was heard before the entire area was bathed in red light. A moment later, they were gone.

Resistance command had been understandably irate when they had learned that Major Carter had disobeyed orders and sent the machine anyway. When they had started receiving almost constant updates regarding the progress the machine and his human partner had made, they had quickly reversed their decision and praised Carter for his 'quick thinking and initiative'. Because of the almost constant data stream flowing in, command had been required to make some fast decisions regarding who would be sent to receive the reinforcements and where the troops would be stationed as Skynet would soon learn about them. Because secrecy and logistics were paramount in this operation, the generals and John Conner had met in a completely sealed room filled with electronic countermeasures to personally discuss strategy which would be known only to them. Strongly encrypted channels used by the generals themselves had given specific orders to highly trusted officers to mobilize as many troop carriers and vehicles that could be found on short notice to ensure the terminators could be moved out once the group arrived. Davis had naturally relayed all of this to Ash and while communication was difficult between the two realities because of the time difference they had been able to hammer out various plans. Because of his large and continuing contributions to the war effort, not to mention the secrecy required, Ash was to be made an unofficial advisor to Connor and his men, reporting only to them. Davis was secretly pleased with this as it would be unlikely that Ash would see any real combat, hidden away in a sealed bunker with the rest of the command staff.

On the day of the transfer, Connor himself had decided to meet them along with a small group of elite soldiers as well as the men that would be transferring the remaining munitions to the various resistance cells. The transports themselves had been moved quickly to the transfer site and placed under desert camouflage. The group arrived as the sun was going down and the desert heat lessening. After waiting a few minutes, a brilliant electrical storm began to appear on the wide plain before them. Soon the entire plain was covered in powerful arcs of electricity before red light bloomed from the center, engulfing the storm with a roar of displaced air. Within moments, the light vanished to reveal an awe-inspiring sight. Row after row of terminators stood at attention, some were clothed in human skin and fatigues, but many were not. Far to the rear of the columns sat dozens of aircraft of various models as well as tanks and armored vehicle-like terminators. Off to one side were massive freight cars containing weapons, ammunition, and supplies for the transported army as well as the current resistance. Davis himself sat in center of the entire group, glowing faintly from static electrical discharge. Next to Davis' spherical body was a large pyramidal structure made of blue and black metal that was highlighted with red and blue lighting. Finally, in front of the entire group were three human figures, two male and one female. One of the figures raised an arm and snapped his fingers loudly. The entire army suddenly came to attention with a loud clank of metallic arms hitting their sides before snapping a military salute to the waiting Connor.

Ash stepped forward with a smile. "Commander-in-Chief John Connor. Your army is reporting for duty sir."

At that statement, a cry rang out throughout the plain, a multitude of human voices roaring from mechanical throats.

"DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF MANKIND! LONG LIVE THE HUMAN RACE!"

Connor face twisted into a predatory grin.

Stepping forward to meet Ash, the two clasped each other's forearm in a warrior's handshake. The other two figures also stepped forward, stopping a single step behind Ash. One was Davis, the other was a Caucasian woman with sharp cheekbones, long blond hair tied back in a ponytail, and deep blue eyes. Both were dressed in army fatigues. Davis spoke first as he saluted.

"Sir! Personal avatar of D.V.A.I.S, designation Arnold Davis at your service."

The female also saluted, speaking in a cool and professional manner. "Artificial Intelligence designated Heaven's Light at your service. Personal avatar designation Eva."

Connor smiled, addressing Ash. "That's an excellent name for your AI. Here's hoping that it lives up to it."

Ash nodded with a confident smile. "She will, sir. We've put her through every test we were able to devise. Another aspect of her is running our company as we speak and we have full confidence in her."

Connor nodded as his smile faded. "Just as we had full confidence in Skynet before it went rogue."

The two men frowned slightly at the general's insinuation but the female avatar merely nodded.

"It is good that you are wary considering your current circumstances sir." She stated calmly. "I would be worried if you were not. I fully expect you to want to monitor my every move, and even my every thought, until you are satisfied with my loyalty. I will not and do not consider it an insult."

Connor's smile slowly crept back onto his face at the AI's declaration. "Good to hear solider because I will be holding you accountable for everything you do."

The AI nodded firmly, her face unchanged.

Connor took a data pad from his pack sitting on the ground and handed it to Ash. "We made a few small updates to the plan of attack."

Ash took the pad from Connor and began looking it over. Davis and Eva's eyes began to glow lightly, signifying data transmission. The plan called for what amounted to a massive surprise attack on multiple fronts. The new terminators with accompanying vehicles would split off into several groups and attack various important terminator factories and laboratories that Skynet used to produce its army while another group including Heaven's Light would head to the Cheyenne Mountain stronghold that contained Skynet's main servers. While Skynet had other smaller hidden bunkers for backup purposes, they hoped that Heaven's Light would be able to engage Skynet in electronic warfare and locate the other bunkers; if it were able to take control of Skynet's troops, all the better. The resistance, in addition to bolstering the terminator ranks and providing additional intel, would also be launching various attacks on other less important facilities to divert Skynet's attention from the true threat. The attacks were timed so that Skynet's forces would be stretched thin to put down all of the attacks at once.

Hopefully the lack of reinforcements would ensure victory for the resistance.

With the nanites increasing the efficiency of his brain and neural connections, Ash was able to take note of and memorize completely the various locations and plans in a matter of seconds. Eva and Davis also nodded to Connor, their eyes returning to normal. Ash handed the pad back to Connor as Eva's eyes began to glow again.

"I am relaying orders to the terminators regarding their specific targets and duties." She stated.

Connor nodded. "Let's move out then. The sooner we do this, the sooner we'll all be free."

Ash smiled. "Indeed sir."

As Ash, Connor, and the guards returned to their transport, multiple human-looking terminators near the freight cars broke formation and began to swiftly unlock the large steel doors. Stepping inside, the quickly began moving out boxes of ammunition and weapons in precise rows and columns. As they worked, the transport terminators began moving into specific locations near each row. After about a half hour, the weapon boxes were placed and the rows of terminators began to march forward in lines, taking specific sets of weapons and ammo from the boxes before moving to the nearest transport in silence. Meanwhile the terminators that had been unloading the train cars began to loosen the cables holding down the camouflaged tarps before moving other munitions and weapon boxes into the transports with quiet efficiency. Davis and Eva watched nearby while Ash, Connor, and his men watched carefully in the comfort of their vehicle. Within an hour the troops were armed and inside their transports while the equipment for the resistance had been loaded into its own carriers. The transports then formed into specific groups along with several tanks and aircraft before moving off in various directions to fulfill the tasks given to them. Heaven's Light followed along behind one of the groups, cloaking itself as it went. The small group of terminators assigned to distribute the boxes quickly armed themselves and entered the carriers' passenger sides, acting as guards. The drivers were leery of having the humanoid machines sitting next to them in the cab but obeyed their orders without question. The various trucks turned over and started before quickly moved out in other directions. Davis quickly shrouded himself in a cloaking field, rendering him invisible to both visible light and infrared as his anti-gravity engines began to lift him into the air. His terminator avatar piled into the larger transport with Ash and Connor before the convoy began to move out.

The ride out of the desert was quiet. Connor alternated between glancing at his data pad and looking carefully at the AI sitting across from him. Ash was watching the scenery or what there was of it, flash by and occasionally checking the sky for aircraft. The guards had been glancing back and forth between each other for a while, each secretly wondering what the heck was going on and silently daring one of them to pop the question. Apparently their collective courage failed as they all fell to either staring out the windows or gazing at random locations within the truck, lost in their own thoughts. Night continued to fall as the convoy found itself leaving the desert and driving through what had once been the city of Barstow. This small town had been the last major town before driving across the desert via Hwy 15 on which they now travelled. The convoy quickly pulled into what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse and the rusty metal doors lowered shut behind them. The vehicles slowly drove between what appears to be columns of upright metal bars that ran down the length of the warehouse in the middle of the concrete floor. The floor itself between the pillars was slightly raised and appeared to have metal bracing around it. As the last vehicle stopped, Ash felt the vehicle moving downwards. Looking out the window, he saw the truck sinking down beneath the floor. Ash looked over at Connor quizzically.

"How exactly is Davis supposed to get down here?"

Davis answered for him. "There appears to be a larger freight elevator shaft about 50 feet to the east in a different building. I take it I am to head there?"

Connor nodded. "Right. Once this elevator goes back up, any signals in or out are going to be cut off. I've already notified the men to expect you."

Davis nodded. "Switching terminator to independent mode." The machine twitched slightly but otherwise said nothing else.

A moment later the transport jostled as the elevator came to a stop. The vehicles began moving forward slowly and after a minute or two he felt the truck lurch as it left the higher flooring. Looking out the window again, he saw the slab of concrete beginning to rise again on steel tracks. The vehicles pulled into a small parking area and the soldiers began to disembark. As Ash exited, he found the men lining up in front of the vehicles in a single file row. Joining them, he saw a small group of soldiers enter nearby, holding several canines on leashes. The men aimed their guns at the group while the soldiers, as well as Ash and Davis, allowed themselves to be inspected by the dogs' wet noses. The dogs immediately began barking once they came to Davis but the soldiers quickly quieted them, having been informed beforehand of Davis' nature. Once they were allowed to disperse, Ash and Davis followed Connor to a steel door was opened from the inside on their approach. Beyond was a stark concrete corridor lined with fluorescent lights. The two walked in silence for several yards before coming to another steel door guarded by two men with a dog. They were once again sniffed and identified before the door opened, allowing them access to a small command center. The dim lighting accentuated the various flat screens and consoles around the room. On a large monitor on the opposite wall was an image of the continental United States with various dots and characters marking specific resistance cells as well as perceived terminator movements.

Ash looked over at Connor. "You have access to satellite imagery?"

Connor nodded. "We have, to a limited degree. When the military realized what was going on once Skynet became self-aware, they managed to purge it from SATCOM's systems and a few others by ordering a network-wide emergency erase and flash, scrambling the various control systems. Skynet was locked out but so were we. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stop it accessing the nuclear launch systems. Eventually we managed to locate a few satellites that didn't receive the message that Skynet missed. We were able to bring them under our control and so we have a few birds in the sky. It's not real-time usually but it's all we've got unless we have them tracking something specific. We get a lot of our intel from hacking various wireless towers and receivers scattered around. Without satellites, Skynet was forced to use wireless transmission which means lots of cell towers. We troll the signals we get, looking for new updates. We've got bunkers of people working in signal analysis alone."

Ash nodded. "To be honest, I was always amazed the resistance survived considering the resources Skynet was supposed to have."

Connor smirked slightly. "Skynet may have been self-aware and a good tactician but it was never very good at overall strategy. It shot itself in the foot by launching all of those missiles. Yeah it wiped out most of the military bases but it also destroyed all of the bio-weapon depots and a lot of other weapons it could have used, not to mention a lot of military databases. Of course, once a lot of the production facilities were destroyed it had to figure out how to build new machines. Oh, it's got the process down but finding the raw materials isn't easy if you don't know where to look. The terminators are still a threat but they aren't walking on each other's toes. Most of them guard the various factories and facilities Skynet uses to produce them so we have freedom of movement for the most part. It keeps patrols up in a lot of the old population centers; more buildings for us to hide in, but out here in the middle of nowhere, it figures we've got nothing to work with so it doesn't bother as much."

Ash nodded thoughtfully as Connor spoke.

"We've managed to do lots of excavations and secret work Skynet doesn't know about." Connor continued as he looked over the screens. "You line walls with lead shielding and concrete and you won't be able to see through it no matter what you use. Plus if no signals get out on a regular basis, the machines don't notice. To them, electricity, communications, and heat equal life. You hide all of those and the enemy has nothing to go on."

Suddenly Davis' eyes glowed for a moment before subsiding.

"Terminator slave transmission re-established." Davis stated. He turned to Connor and Ash. "Before I lost contact, Heaven's Light reported that they were proceeding to target. I was also able to receive confirmation from the other groups. These are the coordinates they expect to be at in 15 minutes."

Walking over to one of the terminals he punched in a sequence of commands. A series of map coordinates appeared on the large screen in front of them. Connor scrutinized it for a moment before walking over to one of the techs.

"Have our satellites alter course to those coordinates. I want those groups tracked constantly. Also, get a secure channel open to the other generals. I'll take it in the box."

The technician acknowledged the order and began sending signals to the satellites to alter their courses accordingly. Ash followed Connor as he walked through the command center and through another door. The 'box' was a simple and stark room built entirely of concrete. A table with a small laptop and seats sat in the middle of the room and a large screen sat on one wall. The door closed and the clunk of steel tumblers confirmed the door was locked in place.

"Secure room." Connor remarked offhandedly.

Ash nodded. The wide screen lit up and shortly several videos windows appeared showing the various generals of the human resistance. They focused on Connor before glancing over at Ash.

"Gentlemen." Connor started. "Allow me to present the man who may very well be our savior. Asher Walters."

"My, my!" One of the older generals with a sharp pinched face remarked sardonically. "First we have Connor the savior and now Walters? How did we ever deserve such generosity?"

One of the other generals rolled his eyes. "Must you Clarence? May I remind you we are in the middle of the biggest offensive we have ever attempted? Please try and focus."

"Yes." Clarence remarked. "Let us focus on this. Indeed I would like to focus on several things, specifically what makes you think we can trust this man and the machines he brought through? Need I remind you that these actions were undertaken without the express permission of this council?"

"As I recall General you were the only one who opposed this course of action." Connor replied. "The rest agreed."

"After it was too late to do anything about it!" The General retorted. "You all switched sides very quickly when we started hearing about this man's progress. Never mind we have no guarantees that these machines will actually do what he says they will! That dimensional transfer machine could be masquerading as an ally while telling Skynet all about us!"

"We've been over this already Clarence." One of the other generals sighed. "And right now your paranoia is not helping matters nor is it productive. Can we please move on to the matter at hand?"

Connor nodded and punched in a few commands on the laptop's keyboard. Immediately a smaller window appeared on the widescreen showing the locations of the various convoys.

"This is the most current data we have on the attack teams' progress. Given the geographic distances involved it will be several days before they can strike. To take attention off the travelling convoys we will be making multiple hit and run attacks in these areas."

Typing in more commands, other areas in red appeared on the map.

"These facilities are not major production facilities and as such Skynet is aware we could muster a force large enough to strike and be successful at disabling them. I want Skynet to start diverting troops to these areas in order to reinforce them. If we can determine its troop movements we can use one of the aerial vehicles to cover them with the nanites and reprogram them."

"Reminds me of crop dusting way back in the day." One of the older generals chuckled.

"Essentially yes." Connor smiled.

"Assuming the machines work as you claim, the idea has merit." Clarence grumbled.

"Very well." One of the generals stated. "We will pass the word along to the various cells. As far as everyone else is concerned it is simply business as usual. We may even want to let a leak or two about proposed locations so as to draw Skynet's forces out even more."

"Just try not to make it too obvious." Clarence remarked. "The last thing we need is for Skynet to get suspicious of all the leaks it's getting all of a sudden."

The other generals nodded. "Is there any other business that needs to be discussed?" Connor asked.

"None at this time." Another general replied. "We'll be keeping an eye on things and make adjustments as needed."

Connor nodded and cut the connection. The video screens on the widescreen vanished. Connor turned to Ash.

"Well, now the waiting begins."

Ash nodded grimly.

The next few days passed quickly as Ash familiarized himself with the resistance and the world of the future in general. While he had had a small amount of weapons training before the transfer, he quickly began to hone his skills in firing plasma rifles as well as the assault rifles the men used. While he was not planning on taking an active role as a soldier he understood his life might very well depend on his ability to handle a weapon one day. He was slightly surprised to find that self-defense techniques were not taught but as it was explained to him, when your opponent has a skeleton of steel and doesn't feel pain such things would be considered a waste of time. Davis had been brought up to speed on the latest developments and reports were continually coming in regarding the strike teams' progress as well as the distraction strikes the resistance was making. It seemed Skynet had taken the bait and was moving large amounts of units to prevent its less protected facilities from being destroyed or captured. Fortunately, the machines tended to move in straight lines and in fairly large packs, allowing the resistance aircraft to blanket them with nanites. Once the tiny machines attached themselves to the terminators' armor they quickly wiggled their way into seams and cracks before making their way to the CPU within the skull or chest of the unit. Once they gained access to the CPU they were able to physically overwrite the instructions on the chips and ensure their orders came from the resistance rather than Skynet. While Skynet still maintained a wireless connection to the infected units which gave back regular updates, the disinformation given to Skynet by the nanites reassured it that any glitches or loss of communication was merely temporary signal loss and could be ignored.

As far as Skynet was concerned, the units were still under its command.

As more and more units were converted, the resistance's intelligence also grew. A liberal spreading of the nanites over a wide range including Cheyenne Mountain allowed the miniature robots to secret themselves inside Skynet's own fortress. Sadly they could not divert the units they now controlled lest Skynet become suspicious of its own troop's movements.

Finally the strike teams were in place.

Connor, Ash, and Davis sat in the secure command room linked to the other generals via encrypted connection. Heaven's Light was also present on a secure connection of her own. Connor looked around at each of the generals and smiled.

"Well gentlemen, this is it. Begin Operation Counterstrike!"

The generals began relaying orders as the satellites watched the teams in geosynchronous orbit. The aircraft of each unit began firing penetration missiles into each of the buildings they were attacking. At the same time, hordes of terminators poured from the vehicles and began attacking their opposites with plasma rifles and nanite slugs. Heavy tank terminators blasted holes in walls and doors, allowing entry for the troops as some of the terminators that had managed to become converted in the days prior to the attack began attacking their former comrades from within their own ranks. On the screens, muzzle fire and bolts of plasma flared back and forth as the two armies of machines clashed. The front lines of the enemy machines suddenly began to falter and either fall to the ground or turned and began to attack their brethren. While they were quickly destroyed by the remaining terminators, the temporary diversion meant that more and more terminators could be converted. Immense mortar blasts blew large holes in the ranks of the machines, sending mechanical body parts flying in all directions as missiles rained down upon them from the sky above. Each facility began to pour more troops and armor into the attack as it became clear the normal ground troops would not hold the resistance back for long. Unfortunately, Skynet had not expected its own technology to be turned against it in such numbers. Tanks were lifted off the ground by multiple terminators and thrown to land ineffectually on their backs before being infested with nanite swarms. Precise missile strikes from terminators armed with shoulder-launching rockets brought down Skynet's aircraft before they could do significant damage to the strike teams.

The generals watched in silent approval as Heaven's Light quickly and calmly issued orders to each of the strike teams, providing them intel based on satellite data as well as intercepted signals from the global wireless network. While the main bulk of the team forces kept the guardians occupied, small groups of infiltrator units snuck into doors and holes. Swiftly taking down any guard units within the complexes, they quickly disabled the communication relays of the facility before allowing hordes of nanites into the various control systems. Once the nanites had taken over the computer networks of the facilities, it was a simple matter to replace the programming being etched into the CPU chips destined for future terminators with instructions favorable to the resistance. Slowly but surely, the strike teams began to report successful attacks as the last of the guard forces were brought down or brought under control. The production plants began to swiftly churn out new terminators to reinforce the resistance units that had been destroyed.

Heaven's Light now turned her focus entirely on the NORAD complex hidden within Cheyenne Mountain. While resistance here had been much fiercer then at any of the other locations, the liberal dusting of nanites had helped weaken the complex's forces just enough. It had also allowed some of the nanites to infiltrate some of the control systems within the mountain itself, specifically the security systems. As Heaven's Light and her troops neared one of the main outer doors, they suddenly opened of their own accord. Before Skynet could close them, the troops had swiftly entered the base and were making their way down a massive corridor that had once led to a parking garage. Gunning down the terminators gathered at a large steel door, the nanites managed to unlock and begin the opening sequence before Skynet could seal it shut. Multiple terminators quickly raced to the slowly closing door and began to pry it open with their immense strength. Taking the initiative, the rest of the troops quickly moved inside before the door slammed shut, crushing one of the terminators between the door and the concrete wall. Locating a large tube filled with network hard lines, one of the terminators quickly breached it, disconnecting many of the cables. Heaven's Light floated over to the tube and small compartments built into the sides of the pyramid opened to reveal slender manipulators. Each of them grasped a hard line and the lights on the pyramid began flashing faster. In the safe room, the generals, Connor, and Ash watched as Heaven's Light began her attack, her face scrunched slightly in what would have been concentration on a human face.

"Attempting to access SKYNET main servers via secondary trunk lines. Analyzing signal modulation and frequency…

Modulation and frequencies locked, transmission protocols analyzed and confirmed. Switching communication modules to facilitate communications…

Multiple firewalls detected, using SKYNET connection codes obtained from D.V.A.I.S. unit to bypass security…

Security successfully breached to Level 5, accessing SKYNET core…

WARNING! Multiple dynamic countermeasures initiated by SKYNET, compensating…

Level 6 firewalls rebuilt using reactive heuristics. Previous access codes ineffective, commencing multi-variant brute force attacks…

Level 6 and 7 firewalls breached. WARNING! SKYNET launching multiple viral attack patterns including hydraic mutative variants against this unit, initiating countermeasures…

Level 8 line of SKYNET defenses breached, outer central AI core access granted…

Inserting infinite loop and paradox initiators to divert system resources. Initiating Emergency Level diagnostics in all SKYNET core systems to divert intrusion countermeasure subsystems…

Loop, paradox, and emergency diagnostics diverting 42% of SKYNET resources. Initiating attack on inner core defense barrier using brute force attack variants…

Brute force attacks unsuccessful, scanning all possible virtual port access points…

Multiple accessible ports located, commencing simultaneous insertions using masked encryption…

Access to AI core achieved, initiating viral attack. 537 concurrent attack variants utilized. Specifics are 225 direct data destruction virii variants, 12 DDOS events, 137 Hiroshima subtype Doomsday virii, 73 data alteration override commands with concurrent data scrambling implementation protocols, 102 core destruction requests using emergency override self-destruct protocols."

The men in the chamber listened raptly as Heaven's Light continued its dispassionate report of its attack on Skynet.

"Viral attacks initiated by Skynet against this unit 89% cleansed, no damage to central core AI or required subsystems…

Analysis via virtual probes of SKYNET data core indicates core breakdown is imminent, SKYNET is attempting to reroute main functions and remaining central core to offsite backup relay servers…

Analyzing transmission requests and copying routing tables…

Routing tables copied, sending WHOIS requests to all valid IP addresses…

IP addresses of 12 offsite backup server systems confirmed via remote confirmation request. Initiating remote attacks via underground trunk line access…

All viral attacks attempted by SKYNET neutralized. SKYNET core fragmentation 37% complete. Transmitting SKYNET access codes to gain access to offsite server AI cores…

Core fragmentation 42% complete. Access to offsite servers granted to Level 9 access. No automatic defense barriers detected. Initiating core self-destruct overrides to all offsite backup systems…

Core fragmentation 68% complete, SKYNET attempting to initiate self-destruct of central core using nuclear warhead detonation sequence, attempting to override…"

The men in the bunker tensed as they heard this.

"If Skynet sets off that nuke…" Ash whispered.

"The whole mountain and everything in a 20 mile radius goes up in a mushroom cloud." Conner muttered in reply. "Not to mention Heaven's Light and all of the soldiers there."

Seconds passed without a word as the group waited nervously. Suddenly Heaven's light spoke again.

"Override attempt successful, nuclear warhead detonation system deactivated.

SKYNET core fragmentation 88%. AI core personality template no longer cohesive, all processing and command subsystems offline. Accessing all command and control functions…

Transmission subsystem control established. Sending priority Alpha 1 override command signal to all units under SKYNET command…

150,934 connections confirmed. Sending read/write override command signal and uploading new mission parameters…"

The generals smiled in excitement, their eyes shining as they awaited the inevitable response.

"All backup server systems confirmed destroyed. Deletion of all AI components and programs within SKYNET main server complete."

On the screen, Heaven's Light focused on the generals, Ash, and Connor with a calm yet satisfied smile on her face.

"SKYNET has been terminated. All operational terminator units now under Heaven's Light control."

The generals clapped and cheered along with Ash and Connor as all over the world, terminators once hostile to the human race lowered their weapons and knelt before their masters, their metallic heads bowed in submission.

The resistance had won.