"Alright people, listen up." began Lieutenant Dawson, commander of the 45th Mobile Infantry Battalion of the Resistance. Carter and Allison were sitting among the soldiers and, like them, were listening carefully.

"About two hours ago, our technicians detected the departure of an airborne Skynet patrol from San Francisco which is heading to Skynet Central, in Van Nuys. What we know however is that they were granted with top-priority access codes to Skynet Central.

This happens only when said machines carry something important for Skynet. We don't know anything about it, but we're sure this isn't a diversion. No other patrol has been detected, plus, they use a specific route and their messages are transmitted through Alpha-oh-six emergency channel. In other terms, they're coded and we can't decrypt them.

Three fighter squadrons will be sent from this base and three from Nellis. They will intercept the patrol and force the transporters to land. Our job will be to permanently disable them and bring back whatever they carry as fast as possible. We'll be going with two other infantry battalions and one armoured squadron.

This'll have to be done quick and clean. We go, take what we want and come back here. Understood ? … Excellent. I want you to be ready and all in Hangar Seven in ten minutes. Dismissed !"

Everyone in the room stood up as one and immediately spread. Allison rushed to her room, put her tactical vest and filled the pouches with ammunition before seizing her G36KE , she ran out and caught up with Carter, who was loading the grenade launcher under his Tavor GTAR-21 rifle while walking. He was wearing a new combat dress, with a black tac-vest and a desert camouflage, and a belt filled with 40mm grenades was strapped across his torso.

When he saw her come to him, he flashed a quick smile which she returned.

"So… you ready ?"

"Yeah. More than ever." She answered almost enthusiastically, and her cyborg partner sniggered. "Good… Just remember not to focus too much on what you have to do, just do it. If you keep telling yourself you gotta do this and that, you're gonna screw up."

"I know. Focus on your targets. You keep telling me this."

"You never say that enough."

She smiled wider. "Yes, I know that too. Where's Hangar Seven by the way ?"

"Straight ahead. It's written right here", he said, pointing to a panel on the wall.

"Oh…" She punched him on the arm playfully. "You're making fun of me."

Carter grinned evilly. "Hey, I promised you payback."

A few moments, several jokes and a mutual poking session later, they entered Hangar Seven. Several men were already gathering around fully armoured Humvees and Lieutenant Dawson was loading an XM-177E1 short-barreled assault rifle. Strapping the weapon on her back, she then turned her head toward them and smiled as she saw them. When they came closer she extended her hand toward Allison. "Here comes our youngest soldier ! How d'you feel right now ?"

"Uh… stressed, but I'm okay." she answered, shaking the officer's hand.

"That's good." Dawson replied friendly. "Just…"

"Remember to focus on your targets and not the theory, I know…" Allison said, rolling her eyes. Dawson's eyes widened a bit and she looked up to Carter, who grinned.

"I keep brainwashing her about it…" he said. "All the time."

Dawson laughed. "Brainwashing ?! How barbaric…"

"Um, I guess she prefers me to do the brainwashing instead of a T-700."

The Lieutenant nodded. "Sure, that's much better… Anyway. You will excuse me, duty calls…" With a last smile she walked away. "Alright, is everybody here ?" she said loudly, clapping her hands.

Carter watched her gather her men then climbed in one of the Humvees, Allison sitting right next to him.

"You were looking at her." she said jokingly.

"Who ?"

"Dawson."

"I wasn't staring." he answered in the same humorous tone. "But if you want me to…"

"You do this, I kill you." she instantly replied in a false threatening voice. Carter looked at her. "You sure you can ?"

"Oh yes."

"Hmmm… Then I'll choose death." His grin widened.

Allison stared at him, wide-eyed, then hit him on the shoulder. "You… selfish jerk."

Carter smiled even wider, and she sighed. "Alright, you win."

"Again." He added, raising his right index. "This was round two."

The fourteen-year-old brunette made a face, and he laughed again.

One hour later…

"This is Alpha Leader, to all units, report." Lieutenant Dawson ordered in her earpiece. The answers came instantly.

"Bravo Leader, we're in position."

"Charlie Leader, everyone's in place."

"Delta Leader, in position."

"Roger that. Unit Charlie, set your Stingers in offensive position, unit Delta, I want your heavy weapons ready to cover us and Bravo."

"Charlie, copy that, we're deploying the Stingers."

"Delta Leader, wilco."

Dawson switched her earpiece off and turned to her soldiers. "Is everything set here ?"

"Yes sir." came the reply. "We're ready."

When Dawson's battalion arrived near the canyon where the ambush would take place, she instantly had dispatched it in four units which were now hidden in very precise points around a hill. Units Alpha and Bravo had been assigned to take the cargo, while units Charlie and Delta would provide both terrestrial and anti-aircraft cover. The second infantry battalion had been set in a similar way on another hill, the third one was at the back in case the others failed, and the armoured squadron had dispatched and hidden its own vehicles all around to protect the infantry.

Everyone was now ready for battle. Allison was checking her rifle, once again. She didn't want it to jam in the middle of a firefight. Carter was sitting next to her and was observing the surroundings using his enhanced vision. Everything was now silent and still, and the soldiers anxiously waited for their arrival. They didn't like to wait much; the fastest it came the better.

Suddenly Dawson spoke again. "They're coming ! ETA 2 minutes, get ready."

Allison stiffened a bit. For now, every time machines had come they hadn't seen them until the last moment, but now… now they knew they were coming and they had to wait. She didn't like that. It made her nervous. She clutched her weapon and readied herself, cocking it.

The air was thick and it was hot, really hot. She was sweating profusely, but she knew it was partially due to her nervousness. It reminded her of this moment, when Carter and her had to wait in this wooden garage after the passage of a Hunter Killer, both hoping nothing would come to them. There was one major difference however : this time, they could fight, they were here for it. And though she still didn't like the idea of heavy machines coming to them, her determination to fight, to put holes in as many Terminators' head a she could, wasn't even scratched. No fleeing anymore now, girlie. It's double or nothing this time.

All of a sudden Carter spoke. "They're coming, I hear them…"

"I don't hear anything", another soldier said, looking at him curiously. Carter shrugged. "That's easier with synthetic ears. I'm a cyborg, remember ?" The guy stared at him, and his eyes lit up. "Oh yes, sorry, I didn't…"

"It's okay." Carter replied, grinning. "You don't have a chip as a brain…"

The soldier chuckled, but their exchange was interrupted by another voice. "Shhh ! I hear them now ! They're coming !" He was right. A roar could be heard in the distance, gradually growing louder.

Carter instantly motioned to the soldier to stay silent. He nodded, and both looked upon the rocks. Allison did the same, and after a while they saw them.

They were about a dozen, flying right in their direction. From their shape and size, Allison could say there were two Transporters and four light Hunter-Killers. Three others were heavy ones, and the last vessel was a massive hovercraft she didn't recognize.

"Damn…" Carter whispered next to her. "That's a fucking Gunship !"

"What ?!" a low, female voice rang behind them. "Lewis, you're sure about it ?!"

"I'd recognize it anywhere, Lieutenant." He answered.

"Shit… Charlie Leader, d'you copy ?" Dawson whispered in her earpiece. Then a moment later, "the biggest aircraft, that's an HK Gunship, I have visual confirmation. Ready your Stingers, if the jets don't take it down, you do it. Over and out."

The roar grew louder and louder. The machines were almost over them now.

All of a sudden, the first Hunter-Killers broke their formation and spun away. A second later, a loud whistle rang, and Allison watched as a trail of smoke reached one of the small HKs, causing it to explode and crash. A missile… the jets !!

A second aircraft fell to the ground, nearly cut in half by the explosion. Then another roar covered everything. Allison looked up, and saw Resistance F-16 fighter jets swooping over them and engaging the machines in close-combat. A cannon chattered and a third light HK crashed. The surprise attack had worked.

By coming upon them, the jets had remained unnoticed until they fired their missiles. Now the HKs were fighting back, and blue plasma bolts flew here and there, in opposition to the white trails of the tracer shells coming from the planes. One F-16, caught in a crossfire from both a light HK and the Gunship's defensive rapid-fire turrets, exploded. Debris fell to the ground. A second plane, coming behind the small Skynet aircraft, fired a missile on it, blasting it to bits, before disengaging promptly and rocketing as high as possible, putting itself out of range from the Gunship.

Allison shivered. She had never seen such a massive battle before. She had never seen what the war was really like. But it was here, right in front of her. These men in the jets, how many times had they accomplished this kind of mission ? How many made it out since their first flight, how many died already ? She imagined it really was a horrible way to die for pilots like them, stuck in their cockpit, behind metal and glass. Unable to flee, unable to move. She thought it was a bit like being buried alive, except it lasted far shorter for the pilots. Looking at them, at these people in those flying machines risking their lives for humanity, for the future, she felt admiration.

She snapped back to reality when she heard Lieutenant Dawson bark over the radio, "Charlie, the damn Gunship ! Now !!"

Seconds later, a massive explosion rang, covering every other noise for a fraction of second, and, looking at the sky again, the young girl saw the Gunship fall to the ground, its right part completely destroyed. Debris were falling from the vessel, and it was burning. When it crashed, the ground shook under her feet, and the sound was like a volcanic eruption. A huge mushroom of flames and black smoke slowly rose upon the bare land, metal parts flying all around.

She heard some soldiers cheer at her left and grinned lightly. From what Carter had told her the Gunship was the most dangerous ship that was in this patrol. Without it, there was already much less risk.

After a few minutes, every HK was down and the Transporter, which had tried to evade the jets, had their primary engines pummeled with 20mm piercing shells and were forced to land with their passive thrusters.

"Go!! Go!! Go!!" Dawson screamed, and the soldiers leaped to their feet and ran toward the huge vessels. One man knelt, shouldered a SMAW rocket launcher and fired on one of the Transporters, destroying its electronic brain. The others continued to move forward, using rocks and plants as shields, covering each other.

The second Transporter, which was undamaged, opened its landing bays, letting out a batch of T-700 endoskeletons armed with modified M60 machine guns. They instantly deployed and began to fire at the soldiers.

For Allison, the real battle was now beginning.

28

Well… 28th chapter's up, and I'm starting with wide-scale action here… By the way, I'd like to thank meanoldmoe for his precious advices about action scenes, it helped me a lot. I hope you still enjoy this story.