TRTSS6: The Termination Agenda! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: R1/2, SM, ST, Terminator and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Part 4
Meanwhile…
"…And so this…BIG guys just pulls out a gun and tries to shoot my friend Sarah," Ginger says, as she sipped some water while being covered up. "Luckily my other girlfriend Ranko—cute, by the way—and this other guy—also cute—manage to toss the creep out of the club."
The African-American police lieutenant Edward "Ed" Traxler glances over to the lanky Detective Hal Vukovich.
"Miss Ventura, can you provide a description of your friends, the man who defended you and the assailant?" Traxler asked.
"Sure!" I took some Polaroid pictures earlier this evening, so you'll know what my friends look like at least…"
"Good," Traxler says, as he signals a police sketch artist to enter the interrogation room.
"Do you think my friends will be okay with that maniac running around?" Ginger asked.
"Hey, we're LA's finest."
"And with our reputations-" Vukovich begins to say.
"Hal, please."
Trexler turns his attention back to Ginger.
"Miss Ventura, with your assistance, we'll be able to end this serial killer person peaceful…"
Meanwhile…
SKREEE!
Ranma pulls into a vacant parking garage.
"I need to know what's going on-" Sarah begins to say.
"Sarah, we'll explain everything," Ranko says. "Trust us."
Sarah turns towards Ranko.
"What do you mean…'us'?"
SKREE!
"Okay," Ranma says, as he stops his van. He then turns to Sarah.
"Miss Connor, my name is 'Ranma Saotome'."
"And I am—god, I hate this—'Ranko Tendo'," Ranko says. Until she and the other Ranma figured out why they are in their present predicament, she will play along…for now.
"Huh?"
"We were sent from the future to protect you from an assassination attempt by…cybernetic organisms called 'Terminators'," Ranma says cautiously. He wasn't sure what to tell a perfect stranger about something as fantastical as killer cyborgs from the future…
"Okay, okay," says Sarah. "You two say that you are from the future…to protect me."
"Yes," Ranma says.
"From these…'Terminators'."
"Correct," Ranko says.
"Riiiight."
And with that, Sarah suddenly tries to leave the van.
"Sarah, wait!" Ranko says, as she grabs Sarah.
"I know what this is! This is some weird sex murder thing between the two of you, and I'm the main course!"
"What?" Ranma yells. "No!"
"Sarah, please!" Ranko says. "You've put your trust in me when you took me into your home."
"…"
"Miss Connor, listen to us first," says Ranma. "And if you don't believe us…then we'll let you go."
Sarah stares into Ranma's gray-blue eyes…
"Okay, talk."
"Okay," Ranma says, as he relaxed. He then turns to Ranko.
"'Ranko'?" Ranma says with a grin. "You may begin."
"THANK you," Ranko says with gritted teeth, as she was annoyed by the implication of Ranma's words. "Anyway, in the year 1997, a military defense network called 'SkyNet' went online, as a means of making things 'efficient'."
"SkyNet was actually the second attempt to automate command decisions," Ranma says. "In an event to initiate a military strike, the President's command decisions could be ignored at any point in the chain of command. You would think that after the WOPR incident, the government would have learned not to plug America's nuclear arsenal into a system that didn't have an override function…"
"Nevertheless, the Pentagon continued to push for an automatic system, hence the birth of SkyNet," Ranko says with a smirk. "A month later, it achieves sentience."
"'Sentience'?" Sarah asked.
"Because of SkyNet, it thought itself as being alive," Ranma says. "In a panic, the system operators at NORAD tried to pull the plug. And in response, SkyNet defended itself by launching America's nuclear arsenal at its enemies."
"But…that's insane," Sarah says. "Why would this…SkyNet do that?"
"It did so in order to defend itself," Ranko says. "After all, it realized that it could destroy its enemies by proxy."
"Good, god…"
"And thus began the so-called 'War of the Machines'…"
Meanwhile…
"This is what we got on the sketch descriptions," Vukovich says, as he hands Traxler pictures of the two males that were described by Ginger. "I didn't know she was into foreigners."
Traxler rolls his eyes at Vukovich, as he takes the sketches. He then looks at the square-jaw male, and then at the Asian male…and frowns.
"Tell me you're JOKING."
"No, this is based Miss Ventura's description," Vukovich says.
"Let me tell you something," Traxler begins to say. "THIS guy is an ACTOR. In fact, he just had a Hollywood premier for some sword-and-sorcery flick on the night of one of the Sarah Connor murders."
"Okay, so we should still check this guy out, to see if he has an alibi."
"Fine, but this guy…I KNOW him."
Traxler shows Vukovich a sketch of Ranma.
"This guy…he used to be a cop, out of Little Tokyo, him and his wife Serena…though she had quit later on to become a private investigators with the Charles Townsend Agency."
"You're KIDDING."
"Nope. But the thing is…Ronnie is supposed to be dead, and Serena…well, she disappeared soon after Ronnie's funeral back in the 1970s."
"Well, obviously your friend Ronnie isn't dead."
"Obviously."
Pause.
"Do you think he and this other guy are connected to the murders?"
"I hope not- wait, what am I thinking? Of course not! Ronnie was a good man. I don't want to think he's mixed up with anything non-kosher."
"Still, at least we know what to look for."
"Yeah. Anyway, distribute these pictures discreetly. I want to know why Ronnie is mixed up with a guy who looks like that body-builder actor."
Meanwhile…
"So, how are you two involved in all this?" Sarah asked.
"Well, the war started when we were sort of…lost in space," Ranko says.
"'Lost in space'?"
"I know that may seem weird-"
"Hey, I'm the one being chased by killer cyborgs, remember?"
"Right…"
"I came back to Earth, and helped organized a Human Resistance against the machines," Ranma says. "It wasn't enough just to launch nuclear bombs. SkyNet wanted to exterminate human beings for being potential threats. Luckily, I wasn't alone in preventing that from happening."
"Then why target me then?"
"Because…you will have a son sometime in the future," Ranko says. "Your son, John Connor, will be the leader of Human Resistance."
"MY…son?"
"Yes," Ranma says. "SkyNet knew that it had lost the war. So, it took a gamble on creating a time machine, and sent a Terminator to kill you. I had to wait until it made its move on you, since they can be hard to detect visually. Unfortunately, they've gotten better at infiltration."
"Thankfully the Terminator that was after you was an older model," Ranko says. "They are still a pain in the butt, however."
"So you are saying that I'm the target, so that SkyNet can obliquely take down a son that hasn't been born yet."
"Exactly."
Pause.
"I think I'll be going now," Sarah says. "I did agree to listen to you, correct?"
Ranma and Ranko sighs.
"Yes," Ranko says.
"Then…?"
"A deals a deal," Ranma says, as he lets Sarah out of the van. "Be sure to go to the police as soon as possible."
"That's…it?" Sarah asked.
"A deal's a deal, Sarah."
Hesitantly, Sarah gets out of the van.
"Um, I do hope that you get help," Sarah says to Ranko and Ranma.
And with that, Sarah leaves for the outside.
Ranko turns towards Ranma.
"Idiot!" Ranko yells. "We have to protect Sarah!"
"We will," Ranma says. "And besides, I'm sure about YOU, you know."
"Oh, yeah? Same goes for YOU."
"Well, at least I'm not girl-!"
SLAP!
"Ranma, you jerk!" Ranko yells.
"You even hit like one," Ranma says, as he feels his face. And then-
WOK!
"Ow!"
"I'm going to hurt you for THAT remark," Ranko yells, as she carried her 'Mallet-sama'."
Ranma was about to make a remark, but a thought came to his mind.
"Ranko?"
"What?"
"Why…are you holding a mallet?"
Ranko was about to retort, but realized the implication of what she had done.
"No…"
"It looks like you're become a real girl after all," Ranma says. "Now, you have to start going shopping and beauty solons-"
POW!
"Humph!" Ranko says, as Ranma falls over dazed. "I'll show YOU a real girl alright…"
Meanwhile, Sarah was jogging to the entrance of parking garage, when she heard a screeching of a car stopping. Quickly, she turns to see a car several yards away from her position. Unfortunately, she recognized the driver as well.
"No!" Sarah yells.
The Terminator guns the stolen car's engine, and began to speed towards Sarah.
"Terminated," the cyborg says with a dispassionate smirk.
Tbc.