Chapter 14: Monarch
The only sound that echoed in the dark, metal hallways were that of Catherine Weaver's feet as they made contact with the ground. She had gotten her information, she was right... Skynet was building a Time machine. The Resistance Network was rather easy to hack into, although being the CEO of a massive technological corporation, she felt that kind of stuff came easy to her. She was disguised as an average-sized, dark-haired male Resistance soldier. One of the men who guarded the intelligence room. He was an easy kill, although it took a while to find a place to hide the body.
She marched in perfect rhythm down the hallway, until she passed another soldier who turned around and spoke to her.
"Hey Diego?" he called.
Catherine deduced the man was trying to get her attention, so she stopped and turned around, trying her best to look like she knew him. She forced a smile, hoping to seem appealing.
"Yeah?" she said in a gruff tone. A little annoyed at the interruption.
The man looked noticeably toned-down, definitely caught off-guard by Catherine's lackluster attitude. "Did you know Perry's siphoning more of our medical supplies for that prisoner? We've got thirty wounded in the infirmary and he's using it on pieces of shit like that!" The soldier complained.
Upon hearing his words, Catherine became genuinely interested. "What prisoner?" she asked.
The soldier pointed down the hallway. "Oh, they're keeping him down the hall. He's in one of the cell's down there." The soldier paused for a second, and shrugged his shoulders. "He looks about sixteen, maybe seventeen, brown hair."
Catherine's first reaction was "It couldn't be!" before quickly shifting to "How did he get caught?"
Seeing Catherine looking down at the floor, with a look of what seemed like a mix of anger and fear, the soldier raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"You good, Diego?"
Catherine immediately shifted her head upward. "Yeah, I'm fine. Did the prisoner say anything?"
The soldier shook his head. "No, he's out. I'm not entirely sure, but I heard the medical team talking about a bullet wound. Apparently he's gonna survive and Perry's going to make sure he tells us everything we want to know."
Catherine faked a satisfied smile. "Okay, we'll grab a beer in the lounge later, yeah?" she asked, feigning companionship.
The soldier shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
Catherine nodded in return before turning around and walking away. Despite her time managing a technological corporation, she found it rather difficult passing herself off as a gruff, ruthless soldier. Regardless, she walked down the hallway until she passed the first cell. She looked inside, only to find it desolate, she moved on to the second, there was one person, but it wasn't John-just a starving tunnel rat. She moved to the cell following, and she finally found the unconscious John lying on the medical table, with numerous bandages wrapped around his arm. She frowned in slight annoyance before forcing open the door. Before entering, she stabbed the single camera inside with her sharp blade. Hopefully that would buy her some time.
She steps inside and walks slowly to John's side. She stares into his closed eyelids, seeing them twitch slightly from the movement of his eyes. No doubt he was dreaming. She had to move fast, no doubt there would be a soldier coming to investigate why the camera feed stopped working. She starts gently tapping John on the cheek with her hand, and he slowly opened his eyes.
From John's perspective, he saw a blurry silhouette where Catherine stood; but when his vision cleared, he saw a latino-looking, medium-height soldier staring down at him, one whom did not look at all pleased. He smiled gladly at the person above him, and the soldier tilted his head in confusion.
"You usually smile when facing interrogation, kid?" Catherine first spoke, trying to play herself off as the actual human interrogator.
John smirked, clearly unfazed at Catherine's attempts to fool him. "You usually forget to change the eye color when you take a form, Catherine?" he said in a satisfyingly victorious tone.
Catherine was briefly confused, before realizing she had actually overlooked the fact that she had not replaced her normal silvery-blue to match the soldier's dark brown. Before she spoke to John, she morphed back into her Weaver form, but keeping the soldier's clothes. She watched John stand up with an annoyed look on her face. "How did you spot that? It is a very miniscule detail." she demanded to know.
John rubbed his wrists from the restraints. He looked up at her with a smug expression. "My mom taught me to know my enemy. From the style of their hair, to the color of their eyes... even the accent. No matter how annoying it may be." he replied.
He almost couldn't stop himself from the outburst of laughter as Catherine glared at him. "Charming." she sneered. "Let us go, the base will soon be alerted to our presence. We will have to fight our way out."
She didn't waste a second finding amusement in John's mood plummet. "Wait, what?! Hold the phone! Fight?"
Catherine smiled. "Yes, John, fight. Unless you plan on using your witty humor on them?" she fired back.
She took further pleasure in watching John's attitude stiffen. She had this verbal duel locked down.
The Radar attendant focused on the rising signatures that inched closer and closer to the base. They were marked as bright dots, and there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of them. The attendant turned to the technician next to him, both of their expressions signifying fear.
The attendant turned around and shouted, "General!".
Perry's name caught his ears, and he quickly moved away from his position near his desk in his quarters. "What is it, Chester?" he asked him, his tone demanding haste of the attendant.
The attendant pointed roughly at the dots on the screen. "Well sir uh... it appears that there is a massive Skynet assault force closing in on the Camp." he said. When he didn't get a response from the General, he looked up and saw the sweaty, fear-ridden face of General Perry staring in complete terror at the screen.
"...My god..." were the only words he managed to utter out.
The radar attendant was looking frantically back and forth from Perry to the radar. "Orders, sir?"
Perry continued to sweat, although he tried to hold back his fear from becoming visible on his face. "How far are our reinforcements?"
The attendant returned his attention to the radar for a brief second. "ETA, nine hours. The Skynet patrol will be here in approximately eleven." the attendant answered.
Perry felt relieved, he wiped away the sweat from his forehead before returning to his duties. "Alright, we've got time. Put the base on high alert an-"
BUZZ!
BUZZ!
BUZZ!
Perry was interrupted mid-sentence by the piercing sound of the base alarm. He looked around frantically, hoping to find the source of the ear-piercing sound. He retreated outside to see his soldiers grabbing weapons from the armory, and running down the dimly-lit hallway to confront whatever threat had made itself known. Perry quickly grabbed one of the soldiers and pulled him to the side.
"Corporal, what the hell's going on?!" Perry demanded in an unpleasant, impatient tone.
The Corporal looked completely fear-struck. "Sir! A skynet stealth-force has attacked the base. It took out the sentries, but not before they reported it's numbers."
Perry was astonished the soldier decided to leave it there. "Well come on, Corporal! Are you gonna tell me the numbers or are you gonna leave me hanging like a damn monkey?"
The Corporal was quick to realize his mistake. "Sorry, sir. The Sentries said the force is estimated to be about fifty units, most of them H-K's, one of them an Ogre, the rest standard triple-eights."
Even though the force sounded overwhelming, General Perry looked rather relieved. "Fine, submit to your commanding officer on the field for the moment." he said.
The Corporal nodded. "Yes, sir."
Savannah paced back and forth, she was becoming desperate; she was also getting sick of Cameron's moping. She uncrossed her arms and looked at Cameron, whom ignored her gaze.
"Are you gonna do something?" she inquired.
Savannah expected the machine to ignore her, but she was very surprised to see her slowly navigate her gaze and face Savannah.
"What can I do?" she asked.
Savannah couldn't believe this. This was her job! Why was Cameron so unwilling to do the thing she was programmed to do?
Before she could say anything more, a loud alarm echoed through the base. Suddenly, Savannah saw the doors to their cell slowly slide away, opening the passageway for them to leave. She didn't even make a step forward before she saw her Terminator companion jump up and approach Howard up front. Howard immediately aimed his plasma rifle at the machine, but couldn't even get his finger on the trigger before the machine tore away the gun from his hand with ease. Howard looked utterly terrified, he backed away from the machine and held his hands in front of his face.
Savannah knew Cameron would show Howard no mercy, and immediately jumped in front of her pathway, and mouthed: "Let me handle this." to her.
Cameron nodded, but gave her a look signifying she wouldn't hesitate to terminate the man if it looked like Savannah was in danger.
Savannah approached Howard. "Howard, listen to me. Cameron's not going to hurt you."
It looked like Howard was about to lose his mind, seeing his childhood friend being completely obediant to this machine. But the fact that Savannah addressed it by name was something completely different to him entirely. He put his hands down, and tried his best to make eye contact with the former commander of Camp Glen.
"Wait, you named it?" he asked her in an incredulous tone.
Savannah laughed a bit internally; even as the buzzing alarm tore through the base. "I didn't. John did." she corrected.
Howard looked behind Savannah, and eyed the machine up and down.
Savannah grabbed howard's chin and made him face her.
"Look, I'm not going to kill you, but John Connor can't die either. If you ever come across him... please... don't hurt him. Humanity needs him. If he dies... so does everyone else."
Savannah and Howard let a moment of silence hang between them for a small moment. Without warning, Savannah knocked out Howard with a brutal right hook.
Cameron looked at Howard's body briefly before realizing Savannah had already gotten up and began walking out of the room.
She began to follow her. "You should have let me terminate him." she argued.
"Why?"
"It would have saved us time."
Savannah smiled as she walked forward, before realizing the irony of the moment.
Time it seemed... was not on their side.
With all the soldiers moving quickly through the base, it seemed rather easy for John and Catherine to sneak through the base. Although, between the loud alarm and the soldiers barking orders to each other-they could barely hear each other speak. Catherine pulled John to the side inside of a small opening in the hallway, waiting for all the soldiers to pass.
When they did, Catherine pulled John out again. "John, I need you to tell me everything that's happened. How you got caught, why you were imprisoned, everything!" the machine demanded.
John mentally searched for the answer to her question that didn't sound like verbal regurgitation. "Alright, look. We went to that Nuclear Base just like you said, we held out there until the next morning. Thing is, Skynet rings the fuckin' doorbell and nearly kills us all. So we get outta there in this old truck until we come across a military road block by Perry. He thinks I'm a traitor for running off with Savannah, and here I am."
Catherine looked like she was about to tear John's head off for endangering John Henry. "Why didn't you avoid the road block?" she gritted.
John lost his high attitude. "I would've, I was out cold and Savannah was driving."
"How?"
"Got shot."
Catherine grabbed the arm with bandages, and peeled them away, revealing a small bullet wound that looked like it was healing. "Where is the bullet?"
"Cameron pulled it out." he answered.
He thought back to their moment in the truck when he felt himself slipping away. He remembered fearing for his life, he remembered how scared he was fearing the possibility of never seeing his mother again, never seeing Savannah again, or John Henry, or hell, even seeing Catherine would be better than dying from blood loss. But the worst part about it all... was never seeing Cameron again.
He still remembered it clearly, seeing Cameron working with focus and speed trying to remove the bullet, reassuring him she wouldn't let him die. He swore, he SWORE... he saw a single tear on her cheek as she watched him slip into a dark, dreamy world.
"John?" a voice outside his memory called to him.
He snapped out of it, he didn't even realize his mistake, and all he did was apologize. "Sorry. Anyway, that's basically all that happened with me. Did you find out anything."
Catherine smiled, pleased they had moved on to her own subject. "I did John, I do suppose you could say 'I hit the Jackpot'."
John felt his soul rejoice. "Awesome! So Skynet is working on a TDE?" he asked her.
Catherine nodded and began circling John. "Among other things." she replied vaguely.
John wondered why Catherine was putting on this dramatic act. "Like what?"
"Well, there is a project to develop animal Terminator's, even insect ones. But there is one project you may be particularly interested in." she said.
That was it, John had had enough of Catherine's act. "What the hell are you on about?"
Catherine stopped circling John. Instead, she simply gazed at him in front of him. "I say you may be interested because the description of the project accurately describes a certain... cyborg." she replied.
Cameron? Was she referring to Cameron?
Before John could say anything, Catherine spoke again. "Project Monarch. The description reads: Project Monarch will the cornerstone of infiltrator technology. The endo skeleton will perfectly replicate the shape and function of a human female. The machine will be tampered with on a decimal level, allowing it to be as close to the subject as possible. However, certain functions may result in self-awareness, which would compromise an asset's use. For example, the template's memories will be stored into the Monarch's own memory banks to allow easier access to personality traits, thus assisting infiltration. However, if the asset's system is compromised, it is possible for template memories to become embedded withing the asset's memories; which would lead to the asset believing it is the template it is supposed to imitate.
Furthermore, on a topic that needs further study, it is believed that the asset will observe the behavior of both human prisoners and soldiers; it will try to imitate every single movement, breath, tone, and look of it's subject to the smallest detail. However, this may also result in self-awareness, as the data files that store human mannerisms could also mix with the asset's data files-effectively making the asset think it IS human. As a result, the project has been put on hold indefinitely by Skynet in order to approach more low-risk projects."
Catherine didn't even need to see his face to determine John was mentally paralyzed. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"...Wait... so you're saying-"
"Cameron is the result of Project Monarch. At least in the other timeline she was."
John felt his breathing increase, his pulse accelerated so fast he thought it was going to pop out of his neck. It definitely wasn't a coincidence that Project Monarch described his machine protectorate perfectly. The glitch from the truck explosion must have compromised her memory banks, and made her think she was Allison Young.
John had to take a deep breath before speaking again. "Wait, Skynet sounds super cautious about Project Monarch. Why is it putting it on hold here; while in the other timeline Skynet lets it loose?" he asked.
Catherine thought that the answer was obvious. "Because Skynet was at war with you. You were a smart leader, John Connor. Skynet needed to hit you with anything and everything it had."
John agreed. "It was desperate."
"Yes."
John suddenly looked very intense. "I don't doubt it definitely had problems with me, but what about you? You and your 'Terminator Resistance?'" John inquired.
Catherine narrowed her eyes at her human companion. "How did you know?"
"Cameron told me." John answered quickly.
"She trusted you."
John wanted to ask her if it was possible or not. But he wasn't sure if he was brave enough to hear the answer. He was debating whether to ask her when he heard a pair of soldiers running around the corner of the hallway and shouting "There he is!"
Catherine held back John. "Connor, get behind the wall. I'll take care of this."
"You're dead now, you son of a bitch!" the soldier on the right yelled as he raised his plasma rifle.
Catherine morphed into a mimetic shield reminiscent of the one she used to protect John and his mother from the H-K explosion at Zeira Corp. Both of the men looked in horror at the almost alien-like being that stood before them.
"Well what the hell are staring at me for? SHOOT IT!" one of the soldiers screamed.
Following true on his words, the pair of soldiers began firing their weapons at Catherine. Her body could not block against the super-heated plasma as it tore through her, and eventually she was nothing more than puddle on the floor.
When both of the men began marching towards John, they witnessed the metal slither towards them on the ground. Before they could retreat, Catherine morphed into her human shape again, and formed two blades out of both her arms.
John, who was watching the whole time, couldn't watch anymore. Especially as he heard the sickening slice of flesh, and the sound of what he assumed to be two heads hitting the floor.
He waited until Catherine had approached him first before speaking. "You didn't have to do that!" he protested.
Catherine didn't appreciate his tone. "Why? They were just grunts." she replied in a defiant tone.
John looked livid, even to a point where Catherine thought he would attempt to strike her. "Goddamnit! Do you want to earn my trust?"
Catherine was quick to answer. "I don't care for your trust, John. I only care that you do your job as I would do mine. We can spend the entire future war thinking one of us is going to end the other; but that's fine with me as long as Skynet is defeated." she replied.
John sighed, albeit aggressively. "No, you don't understand. Trust is a fundamental part of human interaction. Especially in times of war."
Catherine might as well have rolled her eyes. "On the contrary, it seems by simply observing history, that trust is only used in times of war to shatter it once leverage over the significant other has been acquired. This however, is an exception, since both of our ideals face extinction. So your analysis over this particular war is correct."
John sighed again. "Look, just promise you'll try not to kill anyone? As far as I'm concerned, all this blood is on my hands."
"Get used to it, John. You'll have a lot more on them." Catherine answered in her usual, condescending tone.
Without saying anything, John walked over to one of the soldier's corpses and picked up the plasma rifle, and with a quick command of his brain, pointed the gun at his chin.
"Promise not to kill anyone or my head becomes fucking paste."
Catherine briefly considered calling him out on a lie, but restrained herself from doing so when she observed his unstable state. If she didn't follow through, he may actually shoot himself.
"Very well. You have my promise that no humans will come to death at my hands." she said.
John lowered the weapon. "Alright, here's the plan. I don't know where John Henry's body is, but I'm pretty sure they're keeping him in a holding cell like me. So we're going to split up, you look for John Henry-I'm going to look for Cameron and Savannah."
Catherine immediately protested. "No John! I cannot allow you to endanger yourself. We will search together."
John shook his head. "No, it'll be faster if we split up. Look, I've survived going to post-nuclear prison, dodging General Perry, trekking across the desert, hiding from a Hunter-Killer, getting shot, losing blood, and listening to you all day. I'd say that's a pretty good fucking track record." John argued.
Rather than focusing on his insult, Catherine simply addressed his attachment to Cameron.
"You and that Cyborg are inseparable." she observed.
John smiled, realizing the truth of her words.
"And that's how I plan to keep it."
"Fine, here's a radio. I will use it to contact you when I have John Henry, and I trust you will do the same with your cyborg and Savannah."
John took his walkie. "Deal. I'll go down the south corridor, I'll radio my position when I have them." he called as he ran off.
"As will I." Catherine called back, quite uncaring whether the young Connor heard her or not.
Cameron and Savannah stood in front of a large metal door with a wheel-fed valve. Savannah waved at Cameron, and she approached the door. The following moments consisted of loud banging as Cameron crashed her fists into the metal door. Within seconds of beginning her siege, Cameron tore away the sides of the door with ease. When the door was lying on the ground, Cameron turned on her night-vision.
Savannah was the first to walk inside, being guided not by a flashlight or night-vision, but a single green light that lye in the middle of the room. She approached it slowly and picked it up.
"That device is nuclear-powered." Cameron observed.
Savannah nodded, the light displaying her facial features just above her neck. "Yes. The General had it designed two months ago, and planned to use it in case Skynet ever attacked. It has a set countdown timer of five seconds, meaning the setter needs to be a willing sacrifice. It has a blast radius of two miles; completely eliminating anything in it's path." she explained.
"A last resort device." Cameron added.
Savannah nodded. "Yeah, good thing we got to it first." She placed the device in her jacket pocket. "Come on, I think I have an idea where John is."
John raced down the corridor with incredible speed. Lucky for him, most of the soldiers were out fighting, and he had luck dodging soldiers who were in the base. He had been frantically looking for Cameron for the past fifteen minutes, he actually did wonder what luck Catherine was having. As he made his way past the next set of cells, he peeked into each one of the slits, only finding tunnel rat prisoners or finding the cells empty altogether. He was about to turn down the next set of cells, when he spotted a feminine figure peeking into the same set of cells.
He observed the features, not paying attention to the cloths, an average-sized brunette that looked like she had been through hell. John's heart raced.
"Cameron!" he yelled.
When the girl turned her head at him in response, he saw that it wasn't Cameron, for her face wasn't occupied by part of an endoskull, but was completely covered in flesh. It was then that John realized: this wasn't Cameron.
It was Allison.
On instinct, she was the first one to fire her weapon, and John barely made it behind the wall to use as cover. He wasn't sure if his situation was negotiable, but he would try.
"Allison, wait! We can talk this out!" he pleaded.
"Bite me you sick fuck!" was the response that came from her position. Followed by another spit of gunfire.
"I'm not your enemy!" he yelled back.
"The hell you aren't!" Gunfire.
John knew nothing was going to convince Allison otherwise. A situation in which he was going to be forced to turn his weapon on a girl who wanted to get into his pants only days before is a situation he wasn't sure he was comfortable with.
Allison aimed her weapon towards John's position, but before she could fire, she felt a firm strong grip on the back of her right shoulder. She screamed and turned around as fast as she could, only to be met with the familiar face of General Perry.
"What the hell's going on? I need you on the frontlines, soldier!" he vented.
Allison pointed around the corner. "Sir, it's him!" she replied in a frantic garble.
Perry's eyes widened. "Connor?"
He pulled out his M9 sidearm and took position on the other side of the hallway. Looking out, he gave Savannah a nod, signifying he had her back.
John was sweating harshly. Until he came to the conclusion he didn't have to kill Allison. He could do like Uncle Bob did-which was shoot the leg. But what if Allison bled out? He mentally fought with himself for a moment before hearing his wall being struck by gunfire again. He took a deep breath.
"Count of three, we rush 'em." Perry instructed.
Allison nodded.
Perry counted. "One.
"Two."
"Thre-"
Crack!
The sound of bone crushing horrified Allison. The dead body of General Perry horrified her even more. But the face she witnessed doing the deed utterly terrified her. It wasn't someone she knew, not a grey, not a machine...
It was herself.
SUBJECT IDENTITY: ALLISON YOUNG
AGE: 19
ACTION:
...
...
...
TERMINATE
Cameron raised her weapon, but before she could aim the sight in line with her human counterpart's head, a text appeared on her HUD.
"Cameron, abort Termination."
Cameron tilted her head to the side, feeling unnecessarily obligated to hear John Henry out.
"Negative, John Henry. She threatens John Connor. She must be terminated.
With the extra commotion in the background, John wondered what was going on. He peeked his head around the corner, to see Cameron holding a distraught Allison Young at gunpoint.
"Cameron, wait!" a voice down the hall called. As it stepped into the light, it was revealed to be Savannah. "Abort Termination."
"John will not approve."
"Irrelevant. Allison Young must be Terminated."
Allison snapped out of her horrified trance, and responded in the most not-so-pleasant way.
"Then hurry up and do it you bitch!" she growled.
John wanted so badly to go out and order Cameron to stop; but he felt strangely curious how it would play out under Cameron's command. He watched closely, unsure of what the next moments would hold.
Savannah put her hands in a 'hold on' motion. "Cameron... please. She's my friend."
"Cameron. Prove to John you're better than that."
Cameron responded once more. "Negative. Allison Young must be Terminated."
"STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF AND SHOOT ME YOU SKYNET WHORE!" Allison taunted. With Perry dead, there was nothing left to fight for.
"Cameron. Prove to John you're better than the others. You're different."
The words on Cameron's screen jolted something in her memory banks, and her vision was now transformed to the first day she met John.
Cameron reached into the bag, and took a single chip. The words John Connor had just asked her still high in her data banks.
"Are you new? You seem... different."
She looked at John in the eye, and with a ghost of a smile, she said...
"I am."
The memory retreated, and Cameron was now facing her own moral choice.
TERMINATION OVERRIDE... SPARE ALLISON YOUNG.
"Allison Young, give me your weapon." Cameron commanded.
Allison horror turned to confusion. "W-what?" she muttered.
Cameron took a step closer. "Perhaps your audio receptors need cleaning. I said give me your weapon." she repeated.
Without hesitation, Allison kicked her weapon towards Cameron. She watched the cyborg pick it up and hand it to Savannah.
"Thank you, now leave. Leave and do not follow us. If you do, I will kill you."
Allison didn't waste a moment before she turned tail and ran down the hallway. With Savannah, and Cameron watching her from their original position.
Savannah let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Cameron."
Cameron slowly faced her companion. "Do you think John will be pleased?" she asked.
Suddenly, a voice from behind the corner answered her question. "Yes. He will."
Both Cameron and Savannah turned to face the source of the sound, and were surprised to see John Connor himself.
Cameron felt herself lost to an unknown anomaly gripping at her metal chest, unsure of what it was, she tossed it away as a side effect of reactivation. "John?! Are you okay?" she asked as she approached.
But John was the first to make a move. He wrapped Cameron tightly in his arms, and held her for a brief moment. Savannah watched closely, and saw the two heroes for the future in an embrace.
"I'm so proud of you, Cameron." he said.
John held her in his embrace for a moment more, before finally being met with Cameron's hands snaking around his back. Even though they both smelt like dirt, plasma, and the apocalypse, John still took comfort in their moment nonetheless.
"John? Are you okay?" a voice behind him asked,'
John peeked over Cameron's shoulder to see a highly fatigued Savannah Weaver standing.
John laughed, although it sounded more like a loud, sliced sigh rather than a laugh. "That's one way to put it." he replied. "Are you?"
Savannah nodded. "Cameron and I escaped when the base alarm unlocked all the cell doors. How did you escape?"
John answered simply, "Catherine."
Savannah's eyes widened, although John couldn't tell if it was out of fear or surprise. "Wait? She's here!"
John nodded, releasing Cameron from his hug. "Yeah. Turns out this is the base she was supposed to scout."
Savannah dismissed the coincidence. "So where is she?"
John pointed the way he came. "Finding John Henry. Look, we have to re-trace my steps and-"
"-Move it! Move it! Move it! FIRE!" a Resistance soldier screamed on the other side of the hall.
John and the others watched as the screaming soldier fired his weapon at an unknown assailant, before it was revealed to be a triple-eight Terminator. The machine grabbed the man by the throat and hurled him into the concrete wall, no doubt shattering his bones.
The machine turned it's attention down the hall, eyeing John and his companions, he made a dash for the group.
"Everyone, shoot!" John ordered.
On cue, everyone fired their weapons at the approaching machine, with the exception of Cameron's jammed Plasma Rifle. With all the bullets bouncing off of the machine's endoskeleton, Cameron dashed and collided mid-way with the opposing machine. Both of the Terminator's now locked in a grappling struggle. The triple-eight was the victor due to it's increased size, and picked up Cameron by her neck, it lifted her up into the air and slammed her body into the ground.
"NO!" John yelled, firing a hail of bullets at the machine.
Of course, the bullets didn't even faze the machine, not even granting it the burden of turning around and looking at John, it simply continued assaulting Cameron. Savannah was also firing her weapon, but was being met with the same result as John. The machine attempted to grab Cameron by the neck, but Cameron used all of her metal leg-power to push the machine away.
She attempted to pick up her gun from the ground and fire at the machine's head, but the rival Terminator grabbed her by the legs and pulled her down with him. The machines continued to wrestle on the ground, with the triple-eight's back being met with bullets all the same. It raised it's arm for a punch, but Cameron moved her head out of the way just in time for the fist to make impact with the ground.
Seeing her chance, Cameron grabbed the machine by the throat, locked her legs around it's waist, and reversed their positions. She began pounding the machine with her own fists, slowly tearing away to the metal beneath. She looked up at the others.
"John, Perry must have a grenade on his person! I need one!" she instructed.
John looked down, and sure enough, Perry's dead body held a small belt of M67's. He picked one off the belt, and pulled the pin with his teeth.
"Cameron! Heads up!" he warned.
Cameron slowly stood up and retreated from the machine. It attempted to get up, but John hurled the grenade just below the machine's legs.
John grabbed Cameron by her arm, and led her away. "DUCK!" he yelled.
Before the machine could completely recover, it was already caught in the blast radius. The blast tore the machine in half.
John uncovered his head from his hand, he stood up slowly, followed by Savannah and Cameron.
"Are you alright, John?" Cameron asked.
John looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?"
Cameron nodded in return, appreciating his concern. "Yes, John. I'm fine. Thank you for asking."
John smiled at her, but before he could say anything, his radio crackled. "John! John are you there? It's Catherine." the unmistakable scottish monotone echoed over the audio output of the poorly maintained walkie.
John held the radio up to his mouth. "Catherine, I'm here. Did you find John Henry?" he asked.
It was a moment before there was a reply. "I did. Did you find your cyborg and Savannh."
John replied. "Yeah, where do we meet at?"
The T-1001 ignored him. "Savannah, are you there?" she asked.
Savannah was reluctant to speak to the machine. "Yeah, what is it?"
The radio crackled. "Do you know where the APC depot is?"
"Yeah?"
"Go there, I am waiting inside with John Henry. Hurry, it's only a matter of time before the human line is broken. Move."
Savannah looked up at John. "You hear that?"
John nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."
Savannah punched in the code to the APC facility. Once the mechanical door slid aside, she saw a massive number of machines fighting human soldiers in the hanger area. John didn't leave any time for them to gawk, he simply rushed the others onward. He saw an open APC hatch, and in the dead center, saw Catherine waving at him. John waved back to acknowledge her presence.
The problem was, he couldn't see any visible way past all these machines. There were probably thirty of them fighting the maybe dozen or so Resistance fighters. Savannah knew there was no way they could get past that many machines. Not even with Cameron and Catherine. She knew what she had to do.
"We can't get past them." John said with a defeated tone.
"Yes we can." Savannah replied.
John looked at her like she had just gone completely crazy.
Savannah turned her attention to Cameron. "Cam, can you drive an APC?"
Cameron replied, "Affirmative."
Savannah nodded and pulled out the nuclear IED from earlier. It caught John's eye rather quickly.
"The hell is that?"
"It's a prototype arsenal roadside armed grenade overnight nuke. Or a P-A-R-A-G-O-N, as Perry calls it. It's basically a prototype nuclear IED. It has a blast radius of two miles."
"Ok, set the countdown, and move fast." John ordered.
"It has a quick countdown John."
"Ok, set the countdown and move fast-er" he replied with sarcasm.
Savannah looked like she was about to break down. "John... I won't be going with you."
John squinted his eyes in confusion. "What? What do you mean?"
Savannah began to feel emotionally burned. "It has a five second countdown. Someone has to set it."
It was now that John realized what she was saying. "What? No! You don't have to do this!" he argued frantically.
Tears escaped Savannah's eyes as she slowly grasped John's cheeks. "Listen, I need you to promise me that you'll protect them. Please."
John shook his head. "No! You can protect them with me!"
"JOHN! Listen to me! You are a soldier! Promise me you'll protect them! Kyle! Derek! Howard! Cameron! Sarah! Ellison! EVERYONE!"
John looked into Savannah's eyes, and saw the point of no return clear as day. He hesitated for a moment. "I- I promise."
Savannah returned his gaze, and gave him a hug. The two embraced for a moment, sharing each other's company for one last time. Savannah pulled away.
"Goodbye, John."
John couldn't muster the faith to bid farewell back, all he could do was stare in misery. The last moments hurt Savannah, she nodded to John, and jumped over the railing. She landed on her hands and knees, stood up and waved her arms. "HEY!" she screamed at the machines.
Every single one of the machines heard her call, and marched towards her position.
Savannah smiled victoriously. "Yeah, that's right. Come on!" she taunted. She retreated back into the base, leading the machines away from her companions. She looked at John as she entered the base. Giving him a simple nod.
As her eyes left his, he held back the tears that threatened to leave his eyes. He looked at Cameron.
"Come on, let's go."
Savannah, holding the Paragon in her arms, raced down the desolate corridors, passing numerous Resistance bodies and disabled endoskeletons. Despite running as fast and as hard as she could, she couldn't escape the inevitable dead end that greeted her. The corpses on the ground caught her eye; some of them missing limbs, or burnt until they were no longer recognized as human. There was no way out, surrounded by the dead, and her doom disguised as clanking metal and red eyes inched ever closer to her position.
The corpses of men she once knew was a sight all-too familiar to her.
"Get in, John!" Catherine hurried.
John jumped inside the APC, and Cameron took the wheel up front. She didn't waste a moment more before the APC rumbled to life, and it's wheels began spinning.
John took one last look behind him. He felt Savannah's last moments gripping into the time and space above them. These... were her last minutes of life.
The APC stormed off of the base lot, and Cameron barely avoided the plasma bombings that were aimed at the remaining Resistance soldiers. Hopefully they would escape the blast radius.
"Savannah."
"Savannah, come here." Ellison choked.
A tear-struck, and emotionally devastated Savannah approached the dying Ellison. She grabbed his bloody hand, and held tighter and more dear than she ever did life.
"Please don't go! Please!" she pleaded.
Ellison coughed up blood, some of it dripping on the floor. He reached over, and brushed away a strand of hair that dangled in front of her right eye.
"Savannah, you're a brave girl. You're the bravest girl I've ever met. Please stay strong. Fight." Ellison continued.
Savannah shook her head, sadness oozing from her expression. "No, please!" she cried. "You can fight with me!"
Ellison tried his best to give her a reassuring smile. "I wish I could, I really do. Savannah... the future relies on you. When he comes... guide him to her. He needs her."
Savannah gripped tighter onto Ellison's hand, not because she was doing it unconsciously, but because Ellison's grip was getting looser and looser. "Savannah?"
The young girl looked into his eyes, fresh tears still pouring out.
"...I love you."
And his eyes slowly shut.
Savannah broke down, her cries echoing through the medical room. She held tight onto Ellison's hand, even as Captain Reynolds tried pulling her away.
The clanking grew closer, and Savannah knew time was imminent. She pressed the countdown button on the Paragon. But even now, in humanity's darkest hour, she looked up, from the blood and the dead, and the dying, to the stars. What she saw was not humanity's end.
What she saw, was hope. And with a victorious smile, she was consumed in Nuclear fire.
The ground rumbled, sending the APC wobbling side-to-side a bit, even from two miles away, the flash was seen from the back window. John put his right hand on the glass, and began a silent mourn. The more his eyes lingered on the sight, the more he felt the need to turn away.
We all die for you.
Those words that echoed in his mind, hurt now more than ever.
You've probably realized that whenever I say: "New chapter due soon!" or something along those lines; that I take like a month to upload and am completely full of sh**. Usually it's because I've been playing the slick new video game that just came out, or because my work schedule changed. I will try my best to upload sooner.
Anyway, I'm writing a fight scene for the next chapter, and would appreciate some tips on how to do so. It's going to be short but hopefully intense. Please contact me if you wish to assist me, it'd be greatly appreciated.