As soon as the Terminators opened fire, Carter ducked and crouched behind a rock, then turned his head behind him, searching for Allison. He found her a few meters further, kneeling behind another rock and sighed in relief. He knew she wouldn't have stood up like this in the middle of a firefight, she wasn't stupid, but he was worried. Fortunately, this proved itself pointless. He saw her look at him, and nodded before smiling as reassuringly as he could. She smiled back, and he relaxed. She hadn't lost her cool yet, everything was okay. He knew from experience she hated, even feared, being shot at. Last time it happened she still had trouble dealing with it but it seemed she was over that now.

After a few seconds he carefully looked upon the rock, and saw that the 700s were dispatching. Lifting his rifle, he took aim at one of them and fired a short burst. Right in the skull.

But it didn't have the effect he hoped.

Spark flew out as the bullets bounced off the machine without even scratching it. What the hell ?! These are M995s, I've… Oh shit.

He realized what the problem was in an instant. Those 700s were NOT 700s. They had chromed endoskeletons, not standard matt grey ones, and there were… several differences. The arms' actuators were configured differently, the torso was a bit sleeker, with larger jacks. Zooming on one of them, he also noticed the jaw had a different design. New models ! Fuck !!

Instantly he crouched back behind his natural shield and his right hand reached his eaerpiece. "Dawson, d'you copy ? Lewis here, Dawson, come in !!"

"Dawson, copy you Lewis. What's going on ?"

"Those Terminators are new models, not 700s ! They're different !! My M995 bullets didn't even scratch them !"

"What ?! New models… Goddammit. Thanks Lewis, over and out."

Carter cursed. Skynet was progressing faster than he'd thought. Looking back at Allison, he motioned her to stay low. She nodded.

Suddenly, the thunder of heavy automatic weapons rang, and, looking back, Carter saw several Hummvees with full armour and roof-mounted .50 caliber M2 machine guns speeding toward the Transporters. The Delta Unit, Dawson thought fast. Instantly he shifted his gaze to the machines. Two of the Terminators had fallen, one had been properly decapitated and the other had his head literally blown off. Good. Two down, nine to go. Searching the field he saw one of them coming in their direction. Instantly he raised his weapon and fired the M203 grenade launcher. The 40mm HE grenade exploded right on the machine. Without hesitation, he scanned the battlefield again, and saw that all other Terminators were now facing the Humvees, but none had noticed him. Instantly he jumped upon the rock and ran as fast as he could to the Terminator he just hit. In a matter of seconds he was on it.

The humanoid robot was still functional, but his breastplate was damaged, one of his arms had fallen, and his left leg was a mess. Before it could lift its machine gun, Carter grabbed its arm and twisted it, the machine instantly dropping the weapon. Then he punched it in the chest with all his might, sending it flying backwards. Ignoring the pain of his knuckles, he lunged on the M60 and trained it toward the damaged Terminator before firing. The bullets hit the last functioning arm, which the machine used to shield its own head. The elbow articulation was ripped off by the sheer penetrating power of the 7.62mm tungsten-cored armour-piercing ammunition, but by the time the forearm fell, the robot was already on Carter.


Seeing the Terminator jump on Carter, Allison didn't hesitate a second. She leaped on her feet, quickly scanned the surroundings and ran to them. The machine was trying to strangle Carter with what remained of its forearm. Allison screamed on the top of her lungs : "HEY, FUCKER !! OVER HERE !!"

The robot turned its head to look at her, and she shot a burst into its eyes almost at point blank range, destroying them both. Sparks flew out, and the now blind Terminator froze for a second. It was enough for Carter to yank his legs free and kick it in the chest, throwing it backwards. Then he lunged at it, grabbed its head with one hand, the neck with the others and twisting with all his strength. A metallic clank rang as the machine's neck was snapped.

Then Carter seized the machine gun still lying on the ground, and fired it again, this time blasting the machine's skull into bits for good.

Then he cast a quick glance aside, but the other machines were too far. Allison followed his gaze and saw another Terminator crumple to the ground, cut in half by heavy machine gun fire. She felt this familiar feeling of satisfaction welling inside her. The very same feeling she had already felt when she had destroyed this humanoid Hunter-Killer that attacked them in the village.

"Allison !"

She turned again to face Carter who was now on his feet, the Terminator's weapon still in hand. His face was filled with a mix of admiration and worry. But when he spoke, he was only grateful. "Thanks."

Allison smiled. "You're welcome. But, you know, I couldn't…" her smile faded. "I couldn't leave you with this machine. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done this, but…"

"GET DOWN !!"

She felt Carter push her to the ground, and instinctively looked at her left. Another Terminator was standing up, his machine gun raised and ready to fire. The first burst had missed them from inches.

Carter's weapon crackled, but, instead of just standing here, the machine jumped to the side. Only a few bullets hit it, one scratching its skull and another in its left shoulder. But as it prepared to fire back, Carter stood up in front of the weapon, shielding Allison to the bullets that would come. The young girl panicked. He wasn't durable enough for those bullets, he would be ripped in pieces !

"CARTER !! NO !!"

The burst rang, but at the very same moment Allison felt herself hurled at the side. She hit the ground hardly, her own rifle clattering. And she quickly realized what happened. He threw me aside, he gained time to protect me… Her left leg was hurting like hell, but she didn't even care about the flesh wounds, or the shots she could have taken. Tears welled in her eyes as she turned back to her savior. "CARTER !!"

No… I… I can't lose him, not now… Not now…

But she stopped as she realized he had just disappeared. Allison heard another machine gun burst and a dull thud. Shifting her gaze to the origin of the sound, she saw Carter rising back to his feet as the now headless Terminator jerked, stumbled and finally fell.

What ?! He… he was… what happened ?!

Again, her cyborg companion shot his weapon, once, twice, then rushed to her. "You okay ? Sorry I threw you like that, it was the only way it would work…"

"What happened ?"

"They hate airborne attacks… Besides, they're too heavy to jump properly." he replied, smirking. And all of a sudden something clicked inside her mind. Carter had no intention to shield the bullets, he just had to wait until the last moment in order to fool the Terminator. And when the time had come he had thrown her out of the trajectory of the projectiles before jumping in the air and shooting it. A swift and quick surprise attack.

He didn't get shot, he never intended to, he was safe.

Again, tears came to her eyes. But those were tears of joy.

"Lewis !!" The female voice rang like a gunshot, and Allison jumped. Grabbing her G36 that was right beside her she turned back, ready to fight again, adrenaline pumping in her blood. But it was no Terminator.

Only Lieutenant Dawson and a few men. The female officer looked worried. "Are you alright you two ?" Allison rose to her feet and winced a little. She had a big scratch at her left leg, but that was all, nothing to worry about. "I'm okay, thanks."

"Same for me." Carter added. "We just blasted two of those bastards."

Dawson smiled. "Phew, what a relief ! I have to admit, when one of my men told me you were in the middle of this shit I was pretty worried."

"Thanks then." Carter replied quickly. "It this over ?"

"Well all the tin cans are destroyed, but the second Transporter is sort of locked, we can't open it. And the cargo is not in the first one."


"Hm. I'm coming, I'll try and see if I can open this door." Carter said.

A few moment later, he came in front of the Transporter's bay, switched his sensors to thermal mode, but nothing was to be found. He sighed. "Okay, get back. And ready your guns, we never know." Several cha-clicks rang, then Carter punched the door with his T-700 arm. The metal bent under the impact, so he hit again. And again. And again.

BAM !! The metal door fell on the ground, and Carter backed a bit. There was no light inside, so he activated his infrared vision again. And immediately he saw it.

A yellow-red form at the bottom of the bay. A yellow-red form that looked damn human.

But… but something just wasn't right. It can't be a human… its thermal echo is approximately the same and there's a heartbeat… but… still, it's different.

Suddenly, he saw two soldiers brush past him and enter the bay. Shit ! "No, wait !! There's something in there !!" he exclaimed.

Too late.

He saw the form move a bit… and understood what was going to happen. All this was obvious. "Get outta here, it's a fucking trap !!"

One of the men turned to him. "What ?"

SLASH !!

SLASH !!

It happened in a millisecond. Blood splattered on the walls, and the two men fell, both their throats slashed open. The humanoid form was now standing right upon them, its arms crossed in front of its head. Blood was dripping from its hands.

Immediately Carter switched to normal mode.

What he saw sent shivers through his spine.

"What the fuck ?..."

A tall, athletic woman was crouched over the two bodies. She was dressed in a tight black outfit which mirrored her short, black hair. Her skin was pale and flawless, and her face incredibly smooth, with a thin nose and a delicately shaped mouth. She was perfect, and incredibly beautiful. But it was undeniable that she was no human. Her red eyes shone menacingly in the darkness, and her fingers had no nails, but shining metallic claws. She grinned sadistically, baring her long, vampire-like metal teeth.

Carter gulped. This is going to be fucking bad.

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