The wolf stopped and sniffed the air for a moment, it's eyes shining eerily in the dark. The green tint of the night vision scope made the wolf's appearance even more strange. The scout watched with interest as the animal picked its way through the snow, looking from side-to-side as if searching for traces of a prey animal. He'd only seen pictures of wolfs and to spot one in the wild was almost enough for the soldier to forget why he was freezing in waist deep snow.

"It's just a wolf," he muttered, sending the message to his C.O, a T-888 using his whisper mike.

"Are you sure? There are reports TechCom has a T-1000 infiltrator."

"Ma'am, it looks like a wolf to me. What's more it's skirting the camp perimeter. Seems like that is what a predator like a wolf would do, especially since it is a lone wolf."

"Keep an eye on it," the Terminatress ordered. "The attack will proceed. If the animal does anything suspicious, inform me immediately."

"Yes, Major," the human scout answered, hiding his frustration. He wanted to watch the wolf, not kill other humans. Relieved to have been ordered to watch the animal, the scout shifted slightly to use the tree trunk as a shelter from the wind. Once again looking through his night vision goggles, he was surprised the wolf had vanished.

Disappointed, he quickly scanned the area, looking for the direction the animal's tracks led in. Terminators were literal creatures and the order to maintain surveillance on the lone wolf was his excuse to avoid the coming ambush.

Alone and cold, the young Grey never saw the she-wolf stand on her hand legs behind him, her forepaws changing into daggers. Ruth was merciful and killed with the first blows, sparing the human Grey from suffering.

Using her teeth, Ruth mauled the dead Grey's body, tearing flesh from the body as any predator would do after a kill. Finished with her gruesome task, Ruth sent two clicks over her internal mic, warning Cameron.

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"All scouts, withdraw inside the perimeter immediately," Cameron ordered. Looking up at the pilot watching her below through the windshield, Cameron made a circular motion with her right hand, ordering the engines to be started.

"How long till we can lift-off?"

"In these temperatures, at this altitude," the T-888 pilot answered, "at least ten minutes."

Cameron did not press the issue. There was no point in ordering the crew to be ready to depart in eight minutes, machines had their limits and HKs were no different.

They would have to fight.

Her mic clicked once, alerting Cameron. "My scouts are inside the perimeter," the Assassin's metallic voice informed his Commander. "What are your orders?"

"Withdraw inside the pickets, be ready to board the HK."

Switching her vision to infrared, Cameron turned a full 360 degrees, scanning the snow-covered trees and rocks in the infrared spectrum. Ruth had been right; Donner's Pass was an evil place.

On her second scan, Cameron picked up multiple faint heat signatures massing to the east of their position. She played a recording of a faint sigh without realizing she'd done so and then activated her own internal mic.

"Sergeant Connor."

"Yes, Commander?"

"Use your infrared and scan to the east. You'll pick up heat signatures."

Two clicks were Tamara's response.

"All troops, begin withdrawing to the HK. Follow normal procedure."

Without warning, the whoosh of three Very lights launching themselves skyward caught Cameron's attention. The lights were on the western side of their perimeter.

"Sergeant Connor, redirect your search for targets to the western side of the perimeter. Look for Metal – there are no heat signatures."

Seconds later, furious red streaks of light burned their way through the dark, burrowing into the snow of the tree line. Cameron watched her infantry on the western perimeter settle back into their prepared positions, readying to fire at any target of opportunity foolish enough to chance making it through Tamara Connor's suppressing gunfire.

Two more Very lights streaked skyward, indicating the trip wires on the western perimeter had been tripped. She noted Tamara immediately redirected her fire to the kill zone the trip wires guarded. On the eastern side of the encampment, the sound of three-round bursts indicated her troops were maintaining discipline and harassing the advancing enemy.

All that remained was for Ruth to return to the inside of the perimeter and the engines to warm up sufficiently to risk taking off.

Her internal chronometer tripped a preset warning, reminding Cameron to set off the first round of Claymore mines on the western perimeter. Deafening explosions ripped through the atmosphere, sending hundreds of steel ball bearings towards the attackers in a concussion wave that would knock down any attacker, human or metal, in the unstable surface of snow and ice.

A shrill scream on the eastern perimeter caught Cameron's attention. She turned just in time to spot the hind legs of a predator slip into the shadows of the tree line, leaving behind a Grey clutching his throat as the life force spurted out, staining the pure white snow crimson red.

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Furious, the T-888 stood up, shaking off the snow and ice that had stuck to her uniform. She'd found the dead body of her scout, mauled by a predator. She was certain it was the T-1000, the rumor now having become fact.

The screams of her human troops told the T-888 the attack was going poorly. TechCom's reputation for always being ready was well deserved. The ambush had never had a chance to succeed. Between a T-1000, warning sensors that had sent up Very lights, illuminating the battlefield, and well trained, disciplined troops hardened by years of warfare and confident from repeated victories, her troops had no chance.

Still, the data gathered from the failed ambush was valuable. The Terminatress used hand signals to communicate with her human X0 to call off the attack and retreat. There was no need to lose anymore assets.

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"You did well," Cameron whispered. "I am pleased. You represented TechCom and your clan well tonight."

Tamara glanced over at the matriarch of her clan and watched Cameron stroke the back of Ruth's head. The smaller, younger Terminatress was sitting in Cameron's lap, clutching the older metal as the HK shook from the turbulence in the thinner mountain air.

"Is something wrong with Ruth," Tamara mouthed.

"She gets the shakes sometimes like a human would," Cameron explained. The older Terminatress shrugged. "It can't be adrenaline wearing off like a human would experience, so my best guess is this is a learned behavior that Ruth has coded."

"I wish I could shake like that," Tamara verbalized softly. "I've been in combat before, but only against Greys. My sector always fought humans."

"This was your first time to kill a terminator?"

Tamara nodded. "I've killed before and it never bothered me. But this time I killed my own kind. I could see their power cells explode."

"Tamara, listen to me carefully," Cameron said in a stern tone. "Never differentiate between your targets. They are our enemies and must be dealt with."

"Look at me," Cameron continued in an even more harsh tone. "There is no human, no metal, when we are in combat, just enemies. The only reason you differentiate is for tactical or strategic reasons."

"Yes, Cameron."

"They wouldn't hesitate to terminate your Brandon," Cameron continued.

"I know," Tamara answered, her gaze turned downward.

"He is your purpose now, that and serving TechCom. You fought well and I am pleased."

"I shouldn't feel this way," Tamara said, looking up at Cameron with a puzzled expression on her face. "I'm a Terminatress."

"The General would say this is a good thing, Tamara," Cameron answered, taking care to modulate her voice and use a tone identified as compassionate. "You were built by TechCom, raised with humans, and have never experienced the horror of Skynet's touch. You have coded remorse into your programming."

"But, I don't understand…"

"You terminated persons tonight," Cameron said firmly. "You did your duty. It is irrelevant that the enemy was metal. Had you opened fire on the eastern perimeter, the persons you would have terminated would have been human Greys."

Tamara nodded, clearly still confused but relieved Cameron had been supportive. Cameron noted to herself to discuss Tamara's reaction with John and Savannah upon the patrol's return.

Without further questions, Tamara checked her safety harness and then began the shutdown process to go into standby where she would escape her fears for a few precious hours of Terminator Sleep.

Worry filled Cameron and she reached out with her right hand and gently stroked Tamara's dirty face, brushing a loose strand of long blonde hair behind the youngest clan member's ear. Tamara showed no sign of responding to Cameron's encouraging touch.

"I miss him," Ruth whispered, bringing Cameron's attention back to her husband's little sister.

"Of course you do," Cameron whispered, wrapping both arms around Ruth and hugging her close.