Chapter 13: End of the line

Summary

John and his companions are taken prisoner by the Resistance, Savannah recalls the first year of the war.


WARNING! EXTREMELY GRAPHIC BATTLE SEQUENCE IN THIS CHAPTER! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


Savannah was on her knees. She was in total submission and held at General Perry's mercy. He had an entire firing squad ready to do their job if she made even the slightest wrong move. Meanwhile, Kyle and Derek stood in horror at the sight of Cameron. Both of them dumbstruck by her flawless resemblance of Allison, minus the red eye of course.

"General?" Derek called.

Perry turned around, annoyed that Derek had stopped his investigation of the truck, "What is it Reese?" he replied.

Derek stared Cameron down, a gesture she kindly returned. "Permission to kill it?" he asked, raising his weapon.

Perry thought about his answer until he saw one of the soldiers dragging out John Henry and John Connor. Both of them completely unresponsive.

"They alive?" Perry asked.

The soldier put his head to John's chest, he felt a faint yet suppressive heart-beat, albeit barely. "Yes, General. This one's alive." he said.

"The other?"

The soldier performed the same action on John Henry. He couldn't hear a heartbeat, but he did spot a strange incision on the top of his head. He reached his hand to investigate, pulling aside the cut flesh and horrified himself with the sight of a metal skeleton. "This one's a machine sir. No chip." he reported.

Perry nodded and turned his attention back to Derek. "Negative. Connor's gonna be court-martialed, and then we're gonna find out what it knows" Perry said, pointing his finger at Cameron.

Cameron had to ignore the termination order that appeared on her HUD. As much as she was urged to follow through, she couldn't risk John. She studied Kyle and Derek, the latter of whom she noticed was looking at Savannah. When Kyle approached the subdued girl, she slowly tilted her head up, managing to position the sun behind Kyle's head as she looked him in the eye.

"Kyle... I swear, there's more to this than it looks!" she pleaded, her hands still raised.

The younger of the Reese brothers simply looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "I hope that's true Commander." he said.

Savannah's gaze was strong. "Please..."

General Perry stood at the top of the loading ramp of the chopper. "Alright, everyone. Load em' up!" he ordered.

Kyle heard the order loud and clear, and he raised his rifle, aiming the barrel directly in Savannah's face. "On your feet."


This wasn't the first time Cameron had heard the rumble of a chopper in the air. Especially in these unfortunate circumstances. She made sure to keep a good eye on Kyle and Derek, as both of them were doing the same with the unconscious John and the disabled John Henry. The chopper hovered ever closer to the landing pad of General Perry's base... back where it all started. Savannah was the first one off the chopper, followed by Cameron and the others. General Perry approached one of the medics waiting on stand-by for his orders.

"Get a gurney for the boy and the machine. I want Connor up by 0200. We'll figure something out with the machine." Perry ordered.

The medic nodded. "Yes, General." he acknowledged with a salute. He and the others prepared gurneys to transport John, and John Henry. General Perry directed his gaze to Cameron, who stood next to Savannah with Derek and Kyle watching them closely. When the medics had finished rolling John and the disabled John Henry away, General Perry signaled for his men to escort Savannah and Cameron inside the base.

Kyle nudged Savannah in the waist with the barrel of his gun; she and Cameron began to follow Perry into the rubble-ridden base. Passing numerous tunnel rats along the way, the sight that Cameron observed was all-too-familiar to her. Though she could never feel the heavy famine-like humans could, she had a good idea from the sight before her. To Savannah, the air was stale, full of a tasteless breeze and a humid atmosphere. Although she was used to it at Camp Glen, it felt much stronger here.

It wasn't long before Perry led them into a clean-room... and it showed. The room was devoid of any dust or grime, it must've been deep underground. General Perry approached a keypad that was placed next to what seemed to be a solitary confinement room. No doubt built for soldiers who might have lost their sanity during the war. He punched in a few numbers, and the metal door slid aside.

General Perry didn't need to say anything. Savannah and Cameron were already walking inside the cell. Perry grabbed Cameron by the shoulder, and spun her around. He looked her dead in the eye, towering over her when he spoke.

"I can put two and two together. We both know the reason you haven't broken out of those cuffs is because it's your mission is to protect them." he started. Cameron simply stared back at him, waiting for him to continue. "You try to break out of this cell... I kill him. The boy will be in a holding cell until he wakes up. If I hear shit go down. The whole base gets to hear me deliver the kill order...clear?"

Cameron was more than aware General Perry was not intimidated by her. For an odd, unexplainable reason, she still felt the need to stare dead straight into Perry's eyes, hoping her exposed one provided some discomfort for the towering General. Although the determined and fearless expression he wore made it seem unlikely. Three seconds passed before Cameron responded, "Clear." she forced out.

General Perry stepped away, leaving his merciless stare to hang on Cameron for a moment before turning away. He punched in a few numbers on the keypad, and the door slid shut. Leaving Cameron and Savannah with the company of the bright room that enclosed them.

Perry pointed to Howard. "Howard, you're on guard duty." he ordered.

"Yes, sir." Howard acknowledged.

Perry walked past Howard and called out to Derek and Kyle before leaving the room. "Derek, Kyle, meet me in my office for your mission debrief." he ordered.

Kyle and Derek stared at General Perry's silhouette as it slowly marched away into the darkness - leaving silence as their only companion. Kyle and Derek exchanged uncomfortable glances with Howard before slowly walking out of the cleanroom. Howard in turn watched their forms drown in the darkness, and he was left with his duty. He began to stare at the ground and ponder his situation; he felt obligated to the Resistance, and would serve them until his dying breath, but was this 'John Connor' truly working for Skynet? Was it all a very dangerous misunderstanding? And who was the Terminator that accompanied him? The one who looked like Allison?

He began to go across options on what all of this could add up to. Was the Allison-bot his... love machine? Howard cringed at the thought and quickly felt his body shiver out of sheer discomfort.

Jesus, I get Allison is good-looking but making a robot modeled after her is just...creepy. That red-eye doesn't make it any better. he thought. He smirked to himself, despite how bad his personal humor was, he couldn't help but substitute it for the lack of entertainment.

Suddenly, Howard's smile became a confused, yet clarified frown. Hold on. General Perry and the machine didn't fight, so where did she get the battle damage from? It could've been another Resistance patrol but we haven't had a patrol in that area for months. Was she... fighting other machines?" Howard thought, trying to find a way to piece the illogical puzzle. Curiosity had him in a death grip, and he opened the small door slit to get a closer look at the Allison-bot's battle damage.

He saw the machine and Savannah quietly speaking to one another.

Noticing him, Cameron and Savannah turned their gaze to Howard, and Savannah scowled. "Howard?" she said.

Howard got a close look at the battle damage, one entire side of her face was completely blown off. Showing a glinting metal endo skull, and displaying a piercing red eye. Howard got a good look and closed the slit. He stood back against the wall and closed his eyes, hoping to calm himself down. That was the longest he'd ever stared directly at an exposed Terminator.

Hopefully, that's as close as he'll ever get.


The silence was killing Savannah. She was sure it wasn't bothering Cameron, but she had had enough of laying on her fist and trying to sleep. She figured she might as well talk to the one and only Cameron before her inevitable death.

"This is where he started you know." she stated, swiftly grabbing Cameron's attention. Savannah kicked her legs onto the cushioned slab. "Here. Trying to find you."

Savannah was expecting a primitive response, but the one she received surprised her greatly.

"He's going to die because of me." Cameron stated, and she looked at the ground. If Savannah didn't know better, she would have assumed that expression Cameron bore was one of guilt. Although she dismissed it as a synthetic emotion, she still felt bothered.

Unconsciously, Savannah placed a comforting hand on the Cyborg's back. She didn't know why, but she did. When she spoke, it was a voice of care and sympathy, "Hey, you protected John the best you could. We all did." Savannah paused, she briefly lost the grip on her emotional barriers, and tears threatened to spill. "We don't always succeed."

Cameron offered no noticeable response to Savannah's hand on her back. She sat completely motionless, staring at the ground. "John told me... before he sent me away." she started, pausing for emphasis. "He told me he trusted me, and that he was counting on me... I failed him. I did not succeed."

Savannah stared at the cyborg, completely unsure how to respond. She felt like reality was bending around her, watching this machine. Cameron briefly looked at Savannah. "I failed my mission."

Savannah had nothing to say, and Cameron went quiet, she stared at the door, completely unmoving. Savannah decided not to push the matter further. Whatever she was saying, it was clearly igniting a negative response from the machine. Savannah slouched onto the cushioned bed and felt herself drift away. Not to a dream... but something else.

A memory.


2012

It was a hot day at the Resistance base. The aerial recon by flying HK's had given the commanders a scare earlier that morning, and they decided to give arms training to the young children. Savannah stood by and watched the others fire their small-arms pistols. She sat on one of the ammo crates, looking very nervous as the quartermaster approached her. He was a tall man in his mid-forties, with a thick mustache and a blind eye. Just like everyone, he still thought her name was Sarah. The fake name Ellison had given her.

"You ready?" he asked her.

Savannah was so nervous she was beginning to sweat. "Yes, sir." she replied glumly.

The quartermaster smiled. He held out a hand to help her up. "Outstanding."


"Don't grip the handle so tight." the quartermaster advised, watching Savannah grip the handle so tight she was sweating. "And don't lock your arms. This is all you." he added. He helped Savannah relax her elbows, allowing her better control of the small pistol. He watched her align the sights, taking aim at the paper target in front of her.

"Fire!" he shouted.

On command, Savannah squeezed the trigger, sending a nine-millimeter bullet jet through the air. It hit the second layer, and she huffed in annoyance.

The Quartermaster frowned. "You're aiming too high, aim lower next time. Remember what I said..."

"...It's all me." Savannah finished.

The Quartermaster smiled. "That's right."

Before they could continue, the Quartermaster heard a loud explosion coming from the other side of the mountain. He and Savannah looked towards the sky, only to be met with the sight of plasma scorching the mountainside. His eyes widened, and he quickly turned his attention to Savannah. They both had the same look on their face... Skynet attack.

"Sarah, look. I need you to get inside and find Captain Daniels. He'll know what to do." he ordered.

Savannah nodded. She was a soldier, she wouldn't fail her task. She freed herself from the Quartermaster's grip and made haste inside the bunker. The Quartermaster watched to make sure Savannah was safe inside the mountain, and when he was sure this was so, he made his next move on top of the observation platform. Once he was inside he retrieved his radio. He put the speaker up to his mouth and began issuing orders:

"Attention! This is Quartermaster Hall; the base is under attack by Skynet forces. All available personnel report to the armory and retrieve weapons immediately. This is not a drill." he said, he attached the small device to his overcoat, grabbed his rifle, and followed the other soldiers inside the base.


Meanwhile, Resistance forces were holding the main gate on the other side of the mountain. The large metal doors were being bashed in by an Ogre tank, one of Skynet's favored units. Human soldiers mounted machine turrets on the sandbags, no doubt preparing for a major assault. James Ellison, who was still undergoing the alias of "Preston Smith" was one of the soldiers holding a position on the front lines.

His friend, Captain Nathan Reynolds slid into position beside him. "What do we got, Captain?" he asked as he aimed at the door with his Scar-H.

Ellison kept the eyes on his sight the whole time. "The boys are saying there's an assault force of T-1's waiting for us. They've got armored support with an Ogre." he replied in a quiet voice. There was silence for a moment before Ellison spoke again. "Is Sarah safe?"

Reynolds sat completely still while aiming the gun at the door, watching it buckle under the pressure of the ogre tank. "Yeah, I saw her with Sergeant Hall. She's in good hands."

Ellison nodded, "Alright." he replied. He was beginning to feel the pressure get to him, he promised himself he wouldn't put Savannah in harm's way. It seemed, at this point... that was inevitable. A loud screech was heard all around the hanger from which the assault would take place, as the door buckled under the pressure. Everyone saw the hinges give to, and the forty-five foot door fell like a titan, crashing into the ground.

If Ellison were to describe what opening hell's gate would look like... this would be it. The bright sunlight blinded the soldiers who weren't wearing sunglasses or face visors, while everyone else opened fire. The bullets proved useless against the T-1 machines as they returned fire-causing many Resistance casualties inside the hanger. As Ellison looked around, he couldn't take it anymore. It wasn't even ten seconds into the battle and they were already losing. He activated his communications device.

"This is Captain Smith! Requesting sniper support NOW!" he screamed into the microphone.

Ellison heard the other end crackle in reply. "Acknowledged. Anti-material units on the way."

Ellison took a deep breath and thanked God above. At least he was thankful until he heard a deafening explosion completely obliterate the command platform above him. The screams of the burning survivors were deafening to him, as the ring of the explosion left his ears deaf for a brief moment. It was no doubt the Ogre tank. He saw Nathan next to him fearlessly firing his weapon at the T-1's until he turned his head with an urgent look. "We need to fall back! They're advancing too quickly!" he yelled.

Ellison took a quick peek over the sandbags and saw that his comrade was most definitely correct. The horde of machines was overwhelming the Resistance soldiers in the hanger. He saw the mounted mini-guns on the T-1's completely tear the soldiers to shreds, leaving bloody chunks as the only remainder. Ellison witnessed the Ogre tank fire primitive laser blasts on its underbelly. Completely burning off the Resistance soldier's limbs, or worse, scorching their body in flame. It was a hard sight to behold.

He felt Captain Reynold's arm grasping his right shoulder. "Preston! Stay with me!" he grabbed Ellison's collar and pulled his attention away from the battle. "WE HAVE TO GO! NOW!" he screamed in Ellison's face.

Ellison looked into his comrade's eyes. He knew he wouldn't leave him behind, but Ellison would NOT drag him down due to his own inability to act. He managed a brief nod, although a weak and shocked one. Nathan didn't waste any time, pulling Ellison up, and hurrying away, following the other soldiers in a retreat. There were about a dozen other soldiers in retreat, while those not as lucky were caught in the carnage. What disturbed Ellison most, was the fact that there was not one disabled T-1 on the ground.

Ellison and Nathan reached the second line of the bunker, and Nathan mounted one of the mounted .50 caliber machine guns and began firing towards the machines. Ellison let the last of the retreating soldiers in, before sealing the titanium door shut. Unfortunately, Nathan's gunfire caught the attention of the ogre, and it fired one of its missiles directly at the open window where the machine gun was mounted. Nathan's eyes widened as the missile burned a path directly toward them.

"GET THE FUCK DOWN!"

Upon hearing his words, everyone ducked under the window, and the missile struck. The loud explosion left everyone in the room deaf, and the cover that was once the bunker was now gone. Ellison was the first to recover, "Everyone! Get inside the base NOW! If it hits us again we're all dead! MOVE!" he ordered. Not one single soldier failed to complete his order, as all of them retreated down the hallway. With Ellison and Reynolds close behind. As the soldiers marched deeper into the bunker, Ellison heard his radio crackle, and then a voice asked for him by name.

"This is Smith, go ahead." he said.

The radio crackled in response. "Captain Smith, this is General Perry of the 132nd. What's your status? Over."

Ellison was confused. General Perry? THE General Perry? Why was he contacting him? He was only a Captain. Actually, he didn't care. It's not like it was at the top of his problem list.

"Sir, a Skynet assault force is closing inside the bunker. We've suffered innumerable casualties and we've inflicted none. The civilians are in immediate danger, and I don't know where the hell command is!" he replied over the radio.

It was a second before General Perry responded. "Captain Smith, everyone else is dead. I can't get in contact with Commander Martin OR Lieutenant Hall. You and Reynolds are the highest-ranking officers as of now. I have limited assets in the sky near the base, but I can have one of them drop down an Abrams to assist you. It's in bad shape and has limited ammunition, but it's all we've got."

Ellison clicked the speaker in haste. "Roger that." he replied as the group made it inside a large water plant. He set down his rifle and tried to catch his breath. Reynolds hastily assisted the others in deploying the light machine guns on their tripods. Where was their sniper support? They lost nearly half of their men because they had NO sniper support. He leaned back against one of the water pumps, he tried to rest until something clicked in his mind... Savannah. Where was Savannah? He looked all around him in panic. All he saw were nervous soldiers on the verge of a breakdown, and dirty civilians trying to comfort their loved ones.

"Mr. Ellison?" a voice behind him called gently.

Ellison snapped his head around, to see the small 11-year-old girl looking nervously at him, on the verge of tears. His eyes widened and he wrapped the girl in a hug. "Oh my god, Savannah! Are you alright?" he asked.

Savannah held Ellison tight, looking around at all the exhausted soldiers. Noticing over half of them missing. "Where is everyone?" she suddenly asked.

Ellison sighed, and he let the girl loose from his arms. "Savannah, they're out fighting. We have to hold off the best we can. Reinforcements are coming." he reassured.

Savannah didn't show any sign of being reassured, she simply stared at him with her droopy eyes. "Are we going to die?" she asked.

Ellison shook his head, and he tenderly took Savannah's hand. "No... we're not."

Ellison hugged Savannah quickly once more, and then he felt his radio call for him again. "General Perry?"

"Negative, this is Captain Landry of the 132nd strike. These Tomcats still have life in 'em yet. I'm gonna drop a payload on the Skynet forces outside. Danger close, over."

"Affirmative sir." Ellison replied. He pocketed his radio and shouted over his shoulder, "DANGER CLOSE!"

Almost on cue, the ground rumbled as the airstrike took place. Nobody inside the plant knew how big of a dent it left on the Skynet assault force, but hopefully, it hurt it bad. Ellison heard over the radio, not Perry's voice, but someone else. "Good hit, good hit. Multiple targets neutralized. Ogre is down!" it reported.

Perry's voice appeared over the mic this time. "Goddamn, Smith. Looks like that Ogre knocked on your door a little too hard. The tank is closing in for the drop. ETA three minutes." he reported.

Ellison nodded. "Thank you, sir." he was just glad to hear the Ogre had been taken out.

"Just doing my, job. Captain. We'll get your evac soon. Can you hold out against the remaining T-1's? Over." he asked.

Ellison thought for a moment. There were a lot of T-1's inside the base, and none of his men barely inflicted a dent on the machine. He gave him an honest answer.

"Negative, sir. Skynet must have upgraded the T-1 plates. The bullets won't penetrate the armor." he replied.

The radio crackled in response. "Understood, Captain. Can you retreat further into the base?"

Ellison looked around. There were no tunnels leading deeper into the base, as the water plant was not connected to any other part of the bunker. This was the last stand.

He reported over the radio. "Negative, sir. We're in the water plant, and it doesn't have access to any other part of the base."

Before Perry could respond, James heard one of his men shout: "METAL!" only to be swiftly cut off by a 5mm round tearing through his chest. Upon seeing the event, the entire room erupted into utter chaos, with multiple Resistance fighters screaming "FIRE!", followed by a simultaneous hail of gunfire from every single weapon in the room-all directed at the hallway where the round had come from.

Taking a look, Ellison saw the hallway swarmed with T-1 machines.

The perfect set up for a grenade counter-attack. Ellison pulled the pin on his frag grenade and hurled it toward the machines. Upon detonating, the flaming flash scattered the metal. Ellison was confident he had taken care of them until he felt a piercing pain strike him right above his chest.

"GAH!" he screamed in pain. He fell to his knees, and covered the impact point with his right hand, trying to stop the bleeding. His choice to remain in the open would prove fatal, as another bullet struck him on the collar. He once again screamed in pain and hurried behind a concrete slab in cover.

Savannah's eyes widened, shock filling her body. Even as she saw the remaining wired abomination that was now the final T-1, she couldn't stop Ellison's name from escaping her. Not as the remaining soldiers shot and disabled the T-1.

Not even as Captain Reynolds screamed Ellison was dying at the top of his lungs.


2027

Savannah felt a lone tear trickle down her left cheek. She hoped Cameron hadn't noticed her. She looked over and observed the cyborg, and saw that she hadn't moved since they had spoken before. She decided to stay quiet for another small minute before she began to think about things. Howard was on the other side of the door, though they hadn't exactly shown themselves as close comrades throughout the time John has been here, she certainly felt like she could talk to him. She didn't even pay attention to notice if she caught Cameron's attention as she sprang up from her seat, and marched over to the metal door.

Banging loudly on it, disturbing the room with a moaning ring. "Howard! Open up!"

No answer.

She knocked loudly again. "Howard!"

Still none.

Savannah became irritated. "Howard, if you don't open this motherfucking slit, I'm going to wring your damn neck! OPEN UP!"

She heard an annoyed voice on the other side. "Fuck, fine!" it said. Expectantly, Howard slid aside the slit and peeked inside the room. "What do you want?" he asked.

Savannah took a deep breath. "Look, you have to listen to me. Skynet had an entire assault force going after John. They weren't trying to rescue him, they were trying to kill him. And if they find out he's here, you bet your ass Skynet is going to re-mount an offensive. Do you want that?"

Howard's expression was limited behind the door, his eyes offering the only emotion that was visible. "What if I don't believe you?"

Savannah was panting in fear, having no idea what the outcome of this conversation would be. "What reason do you have not too!"

She saw Howard think for a moment, hopefully she was getting to him. It was a solid seven-second silence. "I'm sorry, Savannah. I cant."

He slid close the slit, ignoring Savannah's protests on the other side.

She continuously banged on the door. "Goddammit, Howard! Don't ignore me!"

Cameron looked up and observed the distraught young girl. "It's no use. He will not open the door."

Savannah impatiently looked back at her. "Yeah, no shit. Please tell me you have a plan?" she pleaded.

Cameron shook her head slowly. "No."

Her response sending a shiver down Savannah's spine. Was this machine truly capable of giving up? Did she actually believe she failed? Savannah sighed and took a seat next to her companion. She hoped Cameron was developing a plan of her own.

She hoped.