The Lord of the Rings 2: Judgment Day
(Author's note) Hello... I'm back. I guess this is where I'm supposed to make a bunch of excuses for where I've been for 8 months. Let's just call it procrastination and get to the story.
Chapter 6
The sun filled the valley of Rivendell with light, the last of the red hues of dawn having faded. The House of Elrond was quieter than usual; the regular singing and merrymaking was reserved for another time. Now there were grave councils to be held, and decisions to be made.
In a stone courtyard overlooking the valley, chairs stood in a circle around a small table. Seated in them was the widest variety of peoples. Most were Elves; but there also sat men alongside them, along with dwarves from Erebor, as well as Frodo, with Gandalf on his right and the Terminator on his left. Aragorn sat on the far side of Gandalf, next to Elrond. As Elrond began speaking, everyone watched him except Aragorn, who was eyeing the Terminator suspiciously, and a few of the others, who were sneaking glances at Aragorn in his bandages.
Elrond stood and addressed the group. "Visitors, you know why you have been called today. The enemy of old is rising again, and in this dark hour the Ring of Power has been found. Now this council must decide what is to be done about this threat to the world. It is at this time that Isildur's Bane must be dealt with before all is lost.
"But first there is another matter. By now many of you have heard of Frodo Baggins' companion. It is appropriate that he introduce himself."
"I am Cyberdyne Systems model T-101, a terminator," said the Terminator.
"…and what is that?"
"A terminator is a robot that is programmed to eliminate a target." That led into a lengthy attempt at getting him to explain what a robot was in language they could understand, much like he had to do with the hobbits. The visiting dwarves eyed him suspiciously as they tried to get a sensible answer out of him. After some minutes, one of them asked "So if you are not man or elf, dwarf or orc, then what are you?"
"I am a cybernetic organism," he replied, "living tissue over a metal endoskeleton." The dwarves gave him skeptical looks.
"Alright," one of the elves finally said, "just tell us where you came from."
"I was manufactured on March 10, 2028 AD in a factory in what was formerly known as California."
"Where in Middle-earth is California?" Aragorn demanded.
"It does not exist yet."
"What are you talking about?"
"I am from the future."
"What are you talking about!"
"I was sent back in time from when I originated."
"Who sent you?" Aragorn demanded.
"You did," the Terminator replied.
Everyone gasped and started muttering to each other (not for the last time). Frodo was surprised as well. The Terminator had told him that he was from the future, but never that he had been sent by anyone in the present.
Elrond stood and called for order. "Silence! We will get nowhere if we don't stay calm. Master… Terminator, tell us your tale from the beginning."
"Affirmative. As I told you, I was manufactured on March 10, 2028 AD. I was outfitted for termination missions against the human resistance."
"Wait, wait," a brown-haired dwarf interrupted, "what human resistance?"
"The remains of the human race who were fighting the civilian defense computer Skynet" the Terminator replied.
"The what?"
"The computer Skynet. It is a similar machine to my central processing unit, but it has approximately twelve thousand times my processing speed."
"So it's like you."
"Affirmative. Only immobile."
"Why do you keep saying affirmative?"
"To acknowledge that you have spoken accurately."
The dwarf looked bewildered, but the Terminator continued. "It is irrelevant for you to know how the war began, only how I got here. On January 15, 2029 AD Skynet sent another terminator 34 years back in time to terminate John Conner, the leader of the resistance, before he could become a threat. At about that time, I was captured by Conner's forces and reprogrammed. They sent me back to the same time as the other terminator, in order for me to protect him.
"However, a programming error twice caused an electric surge in the time-displacement equipment, sending each of us back 20,000 years earlier than our intended destination. The electric surge erased both of our mission databanks; we both remembered our previous missions, but did not act on them. We materialized at about the same time in Mordor." A murmur passed through the council as the Terminator continued. "Both of us were immediately found by Sauron on February 6, in what you call the 3019th year of the Third Age."
"But that's next year" a white-haired dwarf pointed out.
"Next year was when I arrived. As I was saying, Sauron studied both of us, and learned some of the details of time-travel and how to re-program us. He likely would have programmed us to terminate the forces of Gondor if the Ring wasn't destroyed first."
"We destroyed the Ring!" Frodo exclaimed. Others joined in, asking how this had been done. Elrond had to call for order again before the Terminator could continue.
"Affirmative, the Ring was destroyed in Mount Doom, in Mordor."
"When!" several people asked at once.
"Several months after we materialized."
"So it was destroyed in Mordor…" Elrond said. "I had hoped we wouldn't have to attempt such a thing, but if it succeeded…"
One of the men in attendance asked to know more about the ring, saying that he had heard little. "Forgive me" Elrond said. "We have gotten caught up talking about Frodo's companion and have not discussed what we came here to solve. Frodo, bring forth the Ring."
With that Frodo rose and stepped forward. Taking the Ring out of his pocket, he placed it in the center of the table for all to see. Quiet chatter filled the council as he sat down. Gandalf then told the entire story of the Ring, from its forging to Frodo receiving it from Bilbo. There was then talk of what to do with it, but it was quickly determined what must be done.
"If what the Terminator said is true, there is no avoiding it. The Ring must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. That is where it was forged, and that is where it will perish."
The brown-haired dwarf who had spoken earlier now stood up. "Why not do it now?" he asked as he picked up his axe. Raising it above his head, he brought it crashing down onto the ring as though it were a log. An ear-rending crash of metal against metal sounded through the courtyard as the mighty battle-axe shattered. Its pieces went flying as the dwarf fell on his back and everyone else scrambled to cover their faces. The dwarf stared in shock at what had happened to his weapon, and then looked up as the Terminator spoke.
"The Ring is made of a reinforced titanium alloy. The force required to break it is beyond your technological capability to produce. Only the intense heat of Mount Doom's central crater can destroy it."
"The Terminator is right," Elrond declared. "If we are to escape the coming doom, the Ring must be taken to Mordor. Hiding it will only delay our defeat. One of us here must take the ring to the dark land and cast it back into the chasm of fire."
No one spoke. A few eyes looked to the Terminator, but he guessed what they were thinking. "Negative. I am not programmed to take the Ring to Mordor. My current directive is to protect Frodo Baggins."
Silence filled the courtyard like a fog. Each person was debating himself, wondering if he was the one to take up this task. But none spoke; fear kept their mouths shut. Elrond was about to ask again who would take the Ring when a single voice spoke: "I will take it."
Everyone gazed in astonishment at Frodo. He met their eyes with confidence as he again said "I will take the Ring to Mordor". In his heart he felt as though he might never come back from this journey, but there was no other way. He had received the Ring, and it was his responsibility.
"So be it," Elrond declared. "The ringbearer will see this task done. We must prepare for the expedition to save Middle-earth. Gandalf, do you think the journey can begin before winter?"
"Negative," the Terminator responded. "The expedition must leave immediately."
"Why is that?" Gandalf asked. "We need not dash headlong into danger. We should send out scouts to see the lay of the land, and where the servants of the enemy are."
"Yes," Elrond said. "Why leave so soon?"
"Because the T-1000 is approaching. We gained a significant lead in our travel here from Bree, but it will likely arrive within a few days."
"The T-1000? Just what is that?" Aragorn asked.
"That is the other Terminator that was sent back with me, the one I was telling you about when I was interrupted." The others remained silent while the Terminator spoke. "When Sauron was beginning to learn from us the details of our construction, and how to operate us, he detected that the Ring was in the crack of doom, about to be destroyed. In a panic he sent his operatives to intercept the Ring, but he determined that they would not get there in time. So, he was able to program the T-1000 to kill Frodo Baggins, and he sent it back in time one year, using what he had learned about us. He did not send me because he determined that I was not as technologically advanced as the T-1000, which had shape shifting abilities and a superior computational matrix.
"Soon afterwards Barad-dûr collapsed when the Ring was destroyed. Sauron's ability to existence was decimated, and his power was virtually eliminated. I was found several weeks later by the forces of Gondor who were sent to investigate the wreckage of the tower. They brought me back to Minas Tirith where, after I told them about the T-1000 and its mission, I was reprogrammed to protect Frodo Baggins from his assassin. I was sent back to the place and time where the T-1000 materialized, and from that point I waited for him." He went on to describe the confrontation in Bree and the flight to Rivendell, which left all but one person breathless.
"I don't remember any assassin!" Aragorn declared. "The Terminator attacked Frodo and knocked me out. I woke up days later and rushed along the path they took, which led me here."
"Negative," the Terminator replied. "I did not attack Frodo Baggins. The brain trauma you received has clouded your memory of the event. You attacked me after you saw my skirmish with the T-1000 begin."
Aragorn stayed silent after the Terminator's explanation, but his expression showed that he felt anything but trust for Frodo's companion.
Elrond stood again. "Then it is decided. The expedition must leave tomorrow. None here should feel any obligation to take this dark road, but Master Baggins must not face it alone."
"I'm not letting this thing out of my sight!" Aragorn declared. "I will go."
Gandalf declared his intention to go, as did Boromir of Gondor. Soon Sam, Merry, and Pippin dashed out of their hiding place and joined their friend. Gimli, the dwarf who had unsuccessfully tried to split the Ring, declared, "You have my axe! …Or its replacement…"
"And you have my bow!" Legolas of Mirkwood cried.
"And my computational battle matrix capable of seven trillion calculations per second" the Terminator said.
Everyone gave him and odd look, but the Terminator didn't seem to notice. "So be it!" Elrond declared. "These ten companions shall face fire and darkness, and bring about the Dark Lord's doom! They shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!"
Frodo looked around at his companions and at Aragorn, who was still glaring at the Terminator. Sam leaned over to his friend and whispered, "Well. This'll be some trip, Mister Frodo."
"Affirmative," the Terminator replied.