March 24, 2020
Life has settled into a routine on board the troop transport. The Resistance sent some doctors to the ship to check the the people who were rescued from the Pensacola death camp. Kyle Reese remembers being probed and prodded and injected by the doctors. One of the doctors said it was a vaccination. Kyle felt a bit woozy after receiving vaccinations for every known inoculable disease.
The Resistance also sent some trauma counselors to the ship. And Kyle is seeing one of them right now, a white-haired man dressed in a faded suit.
"hello there," says the trauma counselor. "My name is Dr. Silberman."
"Name's Kyle Reese," says Kyle.
"Kyle Reese?" asks Silberman. The name sounded familiar. "Tell me what happened."
Kyle lies down on the couch. He tells the doctor about growing up in an isolated mountain village, about how the machines invaded and took them to the death camp, about how he saw his mother marched off to the furnace where she and many others were cremated alive, and the stench of death that filled the place.
Dr. Silberman looks at the teenage boy before him. "You resemble a patient of mine I met almost forty years ago," he says.
"I figure you remember what life was like before the war," says Kyle. "You look old enough."
"Why yes. I had completed by residency, and I was a forensic psychiatrist for the LAPD. There was this guy the cops arrested for stalking a young woman. He said he was a soldier from the future and he wanted to protect her from a killer from his time."
"What time did that soldier come from?"
"He said he was from forty years in the future." Dr. Silberman pauses. "My God, that would be this time. What did you say your name was?"
"Kyle Reese."
"His name was Reese. And you look just like him." Dr. Silberman gets up. "He could have been your father or grandfather. Do you know when your father was born?"
"Uh, 1977, I think. That's what my mom told me."
"That was back in '84, it must have been your grandfather."
"Don't know what happened to him. What did you do the day the war started?"
"You seem to ask a lot of questions about me, boy."
"History is a hobby of mine. My mom told me what she was doing the day the war started, how she got a call from my dad who was a soldier and she took me and kept driving."
"I was living in Santa Clarita at the time- it's a town about thirty miles north of L.A. I heard this huge thunder around dinnertime, and it shook my house. Then I heard on the radio that L.A. was hit in a nuclear attack. I packed whatever I could and I drove as far north as I could with what gas I had."
"Interesting," says Kyle.
"Well, Kyle, you session is up."
As Kyle Resse leaves the room, Dr. Silberman takes one more look at the boy. Suddenly, memories of what happened thirty-six years ago surface. He recognizes the voice.
"My God," he mutters. "That's him."
..........................................................
March 28, 2020
The ship's crew makes an announcement at suppertime. Kyle and the others all gather in the ship's mess hall.
"Hello," says a man in a uniform. "I am Ensign Sparks. We received word that Argentina is willing to accept for residency all of the civilians on board ship. Our ship is now heading south. We should reach port in eleven days."
"Finally," says an old man. "We can get off this damn ship."
Almost everyone in the room agrees with the old man. They look forward to the opportunity to settle down and build new lives in Argentina, far away from the machines and far from the memories of the death camp they were all held.
Kyle Reese has other plans for his life. After most of the people leave, he approaches Ensign Sparks.
"I want to join the Resistance," he says.
"Which branch of the service?" asks Sparks.
.......................................................
May 12, 2020
Kyle Reese lies down in his bunk in the cramped space, reading a book. He is fortunate the Navy has provided some forms of entertainment, for living in a transport submarine can become very cramped.
It would be a lot easier to fly to his destination, but Skynet currently has air superiority over most of North America. Although the sub is slower, it is also a lot safer.
"All passengers and crew, prepare for ascent," a voice over the speaker says.
"We're finally here, Reese," says Tony Sutter, a fellow recruit recruited from among the former inmates of the Pensacola death camp.
"We are now in port," says the voice. "Welcome to Juneau, Alaska."
"Here we go," says Tony Sutter. He and Kyle Reese carry their duffel bags and go to the spiral staircase leading to the top hatch. Soon they meet the cold night air.
What greets Kyle is the lights and the buildings. This is a city.
He had heard of cities from the stories his mother told him. The most populated of the cities were destroyed the day the war started, and the rest were abandoned when the machines made their offensive.
But here, there are no obvious signs that the war with the machines reached this place.
"So we're here," says Kyle. "Where do we go?"
His question is answered by a man waving. The man is standing in front of a huge bus. Kyle and the others from the submarine board the bus. Within minutes, the bus leaves the port.
Kyle yawns during the bus ride. It is late at night, and he is very tired. Living for over a week in a submarine can be exhausting; he is glad he is on dry land now.
The lights and buildings of the town is replaced with dark expanse. Kyle can see the outlines of mountains.
Then, after an hour, the bus stops. Kyle sees the shadowy outlines of a few buildings.
"ALL RIGHT YOU CUM-SUCKING MAGGOTS! EVERYONE OFF THIS BUS!" a male voice yells.
Kyle is startled. He sees a huge uniformed man wearing a hat.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SITTING HERE FOR! GET OUT!"
Many of the bus's passengers get out of the bus. Kyle yawns and closes his eyes to get some much needed sleep.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BOY?" the man yells at Kyle.
"I haven't had much sleep, man," says Kyle. "I just want to take a little nap here. It's late, and it's not like the bus..."
Kyle is interrupted when he is yanked out of his seat. "I TOLD YOU TO GET OFF THIS BUS, AND YOU WILL GET OFF THIS BUS. YOU UNDERSTAND, RECRUIT."
"Uh, sure," says Kyle. He immediately steps off the bus. He sees everyone else is lined up, so he decides to line up as well.
"I WANT EVERYONE TO STAND AT ATTENTION!" yells the man who greeted the bus passengers. The man approaches Kyle. "WHY AREN;T YOU STANDING AT ATTENTION."
"Hey, man, I'm not sitting down," replies the teenager.
The man straightens Kyle. "YOU STAND WITH YOUR BACK STRAIGHT AND YOUR HEAD UP."
"Okay."
The uniformed man then faces all of the new recruits. "HELLO, RECRUITS. I AM MASTER SERGEANT EDWARDS, UNITED STATES ARMY, CHIEF DRILL INSTRUCTOR FOR THE JUNEAU TRAINING REGIMENT. YOU WILL CALL ME DRILL SERGEANT. NOW, IT IS TIME TO MAKE YOU INTO SOLDIERS." Sergeant Edwards approaches Kyle. "DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY."
"Twenty what?" asks Kyle as he yawns.
"TWENTY PUSHUPS, YOU DICKHEAD!"
"Okay, man," says Kyle as he gets on all fours.
"Say that again."
Kyle is confused for a moment, and then he remembers. "Yes, drill sergeant!" He then proceeds to do twenty push ups, which takes him about eight minutes."
The other recruits stare at him. "DON'T BE STARING AT THIS RECRUIT HERE!" yells Edwards. "THERE'S PLENTY OF PUSHUPS FOR ALL OF YOU. NOW YOU GO GET OUT OF THOSE RAGS YOU CALL CLOTHES, AND WE GET REAL CLOTHES! FOLLOW ME."
K;ly and the others follow the chief drill instructor into the building. They all line up. After a good thirty minutes or so, Kyle finds himself into a lobby.
"Okay, recruits!" a harsh woman yells. "Men to the left, women to the right. If you're not sure, pull down your pants and I'll tell you where to go."
Kyle proceeds to the left. He sees a bunch of leather chairs.
"Why, hello there," a man says. "Have a seat."
A sheet is placed over Kyle, covering all but his head. then one of the men in the room grabs his hair and cuts it. Soon, Kyle's long, brown locks are snippets on the floor.
That is not the end of it. the barber takes a buzzing device and rubs it against Kyle's scalp.
"You're done," the man says to Kyle. Kyle looks and sees himself in the mirror. His head was just shaved bald!
Next, Kyle goes into a room marked MALE UNIFORMS. A male drill sergeant tells everyone to strip off all of their clothes. Soon the room is full of naked men.
Then each recruit is given clothing wrapped in cellophane. Kyle opens the cellophane and it contains his whole uniform, including socks and underwear.
finally, all the recruits are assembled and rollcall is made. Kyle notices everyone is replying with a shout, so he does just that when Master Sergeant Edwards yells his name out.
Kyle then follows one of the drill sergeants who leads them to this building. It contains rows of beds.
"Lights out!" yells the drill sergeant. Kyle picks one of the beds, a bed much more comfortable than any he has ever slept in, and drifts to sleep within seconds.
.............................................................................
May 13, 2020
"Everybody up!"
Kyle wakes up, still groggy. He looks outside the window. It is still dark.
"The sun isn't even up," he says, yawning.
"THE SUN IS NOT UNDER MY COMMAND, RECRUIT!" yells Sergeant First Class Winter, the drill instructor. "YOU ARE."
Kyle gets the message and stands at attention along with everyone else. His stomach growls and he wonders if they are having breakfast now.
"EVERYONE FALL IN!" yells the drill instructor. Kyle and the others follow Sergeant Winter, expecting to be led to the mess hall for breakfast.
Instead, they start running more laps than they can count, and then they do push-ups and sit-ups. It is a long time before they have breakfast.
.............................................................................
June 3, 2020
Kyle Reese sits in the auditorium along with the rest of the recruits- all of them. He has learned a lot in the past four weeks of basic training. In addition to daily physical training, he ran an obstacle course, shot rifles, thrown hand grenades, even took a whiff of tear gas. He still has vivid memories of that burning sensation. He also learned military customs and traditions and studied battle tactics. Each Sunday there were religious services held by the chaplains. And of course, Kyle did his share of KP.
Master Sergeant Edwards stands behind the podium. He faces all of the recruits in the room.
"Good morning, recruits," he says to the recuits.
"Good morning, Master Sergeant," all of the recruits say.
"Today you will be briefed on the enemy that you will all fight," says the chief drill instructor. "And who-or should I say what-is better to brief us than a defector. Send the thing in."
Kyle sees a figure walking to the podium. He recognizes it, for it looks like the robots that were operating the Pensacola death camp. Kyle notices the sole sensor eye in the robot's head.
Edwards faces the metal figure. "Tell everyone in this room what you are."
"I am a terminator, Cyberdyne Systems Model 085, Series 400," says a voice coming from the robot's speaker. Kyle notices the accent. "My current mission is to brief the recruits on Skynet and its military assets under the direction of the Juneau Training Regiment."
Soldiers pass small booklets to the recruits. Kyle reads through it.
"I was constructed in the Cyberdyne Systems factory in Santa Clara, California," says the T-400. "My original purpose was to conduct infantry combat operations under Skynet's control. I was captured in battle in the Canadian province of British Columbia. My wireless modem was removed and I was reprogrammed to serve the Resistance."
"Tell us about Skynet and its forces," says Edwards.
"Skynet is a battlefield management system which operates over a computer network," says the terminator. "All combat and support units and facilities are connected to each other through wireless modems. Satellites relay data between Skynet's machines."
"Those brochures should give you all the latest intel the Resistance has gathered."
Kyle looks through the booklet. He reads about the various models of terminators. He look at illustrations of the T-400, the bulky terminators that operated the Pensacola death camp. He reads about the T-500, which looks like the T-400 except that it is less bulky. And he reads about the T-600, which look like steel skeletons. The T-600's were the ones who captured him and his mother and brought them to Pensacola.
He reads more about the Hunter-Killers, or HK's, which provide close air support for the infantry. HK's looks like steel birds-Kyle had seen these in the attack against his village earlier this year. He reads about the armor units and combat aircraft. He reads that all Skynet forces are connected via wireless modem, just as the T-400 had said.
............................
After the briefing with the terminator, Kyle sits in the mess hall having dinner. Unlike most dinners, this dinner is the second meal of the day; the Army refers to the third meal as supper. Dinner consists of chicken and rice.
"I didn't know we had those things on our side," says Lance Houser, whom Kyle knew from the Pensacola death camp.
"At least we can use them as cannon fodder," says Kyle.
"what makes you think they won't turn on us?" asks Tony Sutter.
"I'm sure they have safeguards," says Houser.
"I bet Skynet's creators said the same thing." Sutter takes a sip of his water.
...............................................
June 15, 2020
The morning horn blows, and Kyle Reese wakes up.
"All right, men!" shouts Sergeant Winter. "Today is the big day."
"Our last day of basic training?" asks Lance Houser.
"No, smartass. Today we go on a forty-eight hour hike! Pack your shit, we leave right now."
Within minutes, Kyle packs his things into a bag. He had heard about this upcoming march, and his drill instructors kept telling him and his company how hard it would be.
Of course, he had not appreciated how hard it would be-until he was hiking up a steep mountain trail with one hundred pounds of gear, just as the sun was peeking above the horizon.
Master Sergeant Edwards was leading all of the recruits- the men and the women. Kyle notices that Edwards seems to be enjoying this too much.
Sometime in the midafternoon, Sergeant Edwards announces it is time for dinner. Kyle and most of the recruits open their rations.
"Ahem," says Edwards. "We rely on our rations as a last resort. Look around you. This is Alaska, ladies and gentlemen. There is plenty of game for us to hunt."
"We have to hunt for food?" asks a recruit.
"It's no big deal," says Kyle. "I used to live in a village in the mountains; hunting is where we got our meat."
"I grew up in the city-ship Metropolis. Maybe I should've joined the Navy."
And so the recruits hunt and forage for their food. Needless to say, they did not eat much.
Kyle goes to sleep in a sleeping bag. Conditions are truly more primitive than they were in the mountain village.
.....................................................
June 17, 2020
Kyle Reese is real sore by the time he wakes up this morning. His whole body feels sore. He gets up and stretches his tired arms.
"All right, you people!" yells Sergeant Edwards. "Let's head back!"
And so they begin their trek back to the barracks. The descent from the mountain is even harder than the ascent, due to their tired bodies. Kyle notices that even Edwards shows signs of fatigue.
It seems like an eternity before they catch sight of the barracks and mess hall and the regiment's headquarters.
"I suppose it won't hurt for you to have a little R & R," says Edwards. And soon the recruits are sleeping or at least resting, trying to recover their strength from a fourty-eight plus hours camping trip. Kyle is asleep only seconds after he closes his eyes.
Kyle is awakened by a loud siren. He recognizes this, for he heard this siren, once before.
It is the air raid siren.
"All right, people!" yells Sergeant Winter. "This is the real thing."
"The real thing?" asks Houser.
Sergeant Winter leads his recruits outside. They all hear the message, "This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill." Kyle wonders when the enemy planes will reach Juneau.
His question is answered by a loud thunder. The recruits get down. Kyle looks up and sees planes flying overhead at incredible speed.
"We'd better get to the shelter, people!" yells Winter. "Let the Air Force take care of the enemy planes."
As the recruits make their way to the base's bomb shelters, Kyle glances up and sees explosions in the sky. He wonders if those are Skynet's planes being blown out of the sky-or their own.
Just a few yards before they reach the bomb shelter, the air raid siren stops. For a moment they wonder if the power supply to the siren was cut off by one of the bombs.
"Attention, everyone," says a voice. "Air raid warning is over. The enemy attack has been repelled by our fighters."
Sergeant Winter does a head count of his company. Everyone is okay.
Kyle looks around and sees that the regiment headquarters building is on fire. He immediately rushes over there.
"Anyone in there?" Kyle asks a soldier.
"I don't know," replies the soldier.
Klye takes a look around. He peers into one of the burning rooms.
He sees a man trapped under a filing cabinet. Instinctively, he grabs a shovel from a toolshed and then shatters the window. He leaps into the room, coughing as the smoke enters his lungs.
With all of his might, he lifts the filing cabinet and frees the trapped man. He then goes out of the window.
He listens for respiration, and there is none, so he begins artificial respiration which he learned from a basic training class on emergency medical care.
The man coughs. Only now does Kyle Reese take a closer look. The man he had rescued is none other than the chief drill instrcutor, Master Sergeant Edwards!
"What is going on here?" asks the regiment commander.
"The sergeant here was trapped, sir," replies Kyle. "I got him out.
............................................
June 19, 2020
Today is graduation day for the recruits, as they become privates in the United States Army. Kyle Reese stands tall with the rest of his company, dressed in an Army dress uniform. Sergeant Winter examines each of his recruits, most of whom will be assigned to the Resistance.
They all march, with the company commander carrying the flag. Then all of the recruits face in the same direction.
They see the regiment commander and Master Sergeant Edwards, whose left leg is in a cast. Edwards stands behind the podium and speaks into the microphone.
"Recruits," he says. "the past six weeks have been a harrowing experience. I and the other drill instructors saw you evolve into soldiers. I observe the same evolution I saw in myself twenty-four years ago when I went through basic training.
"I know that these times are trying times, times of crisis. We have done our best and beyond to prepare you for the hardships of your duties. Just remember that you follow in the footsteps of those who came before you, who served in their own times of crisis. It is through our strength that we shall overcome the enemy, and whatever awaits us ahead."
Then each and every recruit greets the regiment commander. When Kyle comes up, he salutes and then shakes handsa with the regiment commander and Sergeant Edwards.
It is over. Basic training has been completed. Now almost all of these new privates will join the fight against the machines.
"Excuse me, are you Private Reese?" a man asks.
Kyle looks and sees a man in an Army uniform, with the rank insignia of a first lieutenant. His nametag identifies him as Van Owen. He notices the lieutenant has two companions.
One of them is an Army corporal with black hair and a moustache. The other was a T-500 terminator, shaped like a suit of armor. Kyle notices the reaction of the recruits who caught sight of the T-500.
"Yes, sir, I am Private Kyle Reese," he says, giving the lieutenant a salute.
"I am Lieutenant Van Owen from Crystal Peak," says the officer. "You are ordered to come with us to Crystal Peak."
"And why did you bring this tin can here with you?" asks Reese.
"I was sent here by the Resistance to ensure your survival," says the terminator.
"Why would they send a terminator to escort me?" asks the new private.
"The orders come from the general himself," says Van Owen.
"What is this Crystal Peak anyway?"
"Crystal Peak is the headquarters for TechCom, the Resistance," says the T-500 in a flat, monotone accented voice.
Life has settled into a routine on board the troop transport. The Resistance sent some doctors to the ship to check the the people who were rescued from the Pensacola death camp. Kyle Reese remembers being probed and prodded and injected by the doctors. One of the doctors said it was a vaccination. Kyle felt a bit woozy after receiving vaccinations for every known inoculable disease.
The Resistance also sent some trauma counselors to the ship. And Kyle is seeing one of them right now, a white-haired man dressed in a faded suit.
"hello there," says the trauma counselor. "My name is Dr. Silberman."
"Name's Kyle Reese," says Kyle.
"Kyle Reese?" asks Silberman. The name sounded familiar. "Tell me what happened."
Kyle lies down on the couch. He tells the doctor about growing up in an isolated mountain village, about how the machines invaded and took them to the death camp, about how he saw his mother marched off to the furnace where she and many others were cremated alive, and the stench of death that filled the place.
Dr. Silberman looks at the teenage boy before him. "You resemble a patient of mine I met almost forty years ago," he says.
"I figure you remember what life was like before the war," says Kyle. "You look old enough."
"Why yes. I had completed by residency, and I was a forensic psychiatrist for the LAPD. There was this guy the cops arrested for stalking a young woman. He said he was a soldier from the future and he wanted to protect her from a killer from his time."
"What time did that soldier come from?"
"He said he was from forty years in the future." Dr. Silberman pauses. "My God, that would be this time. What did you say your name was?"
"Kyle Reese."
"His name was Reese. And you look just like him." Dr. Silberman gets up. "He could have been your father or grandfather. Do you know when your father was born?"
"Uh, 1977, I think. That's what my mom told me."
"That was back in '84, it must have been your grandfather."
"Don't know what happened to him. What did you do the day the war started?"
"You seem to ask a lot of questions about me, boy."
"History is a hobby of mine. My mom told me what she was doing the day the war started, how she got a call from my dad who was a soldier and she took me and kept driving."
"I was living in Santa Clarita at the time- it's a town about thirty miles north of L.A. I heard this huge thunder around dinnertime, and it shook my house. Then I heard on the radio that L.A. was hit in a nuclear attack. I packed whatever I could and I drove as far north as I could with what gas I had."
"Interesting," says Kyle.
"Well, Kyle, you session is up."
As Kyle Resse leaves the room, Dr. Silberman takes one more look at the boy. Suddenly, memories of what happened thirty-six years ago surface. He recognizes the voice.
"My God," he mutters. "That's him."
..........................................................
March 28, 2020
The ship's crew makes an announcement at suppertime. Kyle and the others all gather in the ship's mess hall.
"Hello," says a man in a uniform. "I am Ensign Sparks. We received word that Argentina is willing to accept for residency all of the civilians on board ship. Our ship is now heading south. We should reach port in eleven days."
"Finally," says an old man. "We can get off this damn ship."
Almost everyone in the room agrees with the old man. They look forward to the opportunity to settle down and build new lives in Argentina, far away from the machines and far from the memories of the death camp they were all held.
Kyle Reese has other plans for his life. After most of the people leave, he approaches Ensign Sparks.
"I want to join the Resistance," he says.
"Which branch of the service?" asks Sparks.
.......................................................
May 12, 2020
Kyle Reese lies down in his bunk in the cramped space, reading a book. He is fortunate the Navy has provided some forms of entertainment, for living in a transport submarine can become very cramped.
It would be a lot easier to fly to his destination, but Skynet currently has air superiority over most of North America. Although the sub is slower, it is also a lot safer.
"All passengers and crew, prepare for ascent," a voice over the speaker says.
"We're finally here, Reese," says Tony Sutter, a fellow recruit recruited from among the former inmates of the Pensacola death camp.
"We are now in port," says the voice. "Welcome to Juneau, Alaska."
"Here we go," says Tony Sutter. He and Kyle Reese carry their duffel bags and go to the spiral staircase leading to the top hatch. Soon they meet the cold night air.
What greets Kyle is the lights and the buildings. This is a city.
He had heard of cities from the stories his mother told him. The most populated of the cities were destroyed the day the war started, and the rest were abandoned when the machines made their offensive.
But here, there are no obvious signs that the war with the machines reached this place.
"So we're here," says Kyle. "Where do we go?"
His question is answered by a man waving. The man is standing in front of a huge bus. Kyle and the others from the submarine board the bus. Within minutes, the bus leaves the port.
Kyle yawns during the bus ride. It is late at night, and he is very tired. Living for over a week in a submarine can be exhausting; he is glad he is on dry land now.
The lights and buildings of the town is replaced with dark expanse. Kyle can see the outlines of mountains.
Then, after an hour, the bus stops. Kyle sees the shadowy outlines of a few buildings.
"ALL RIGHT YOU CUM-SUCKING MAGGOTS! EVERYONE OFF THIS BUS!" a male voice yells.
Kyle is startled. He sees a huge uniformed man wearing a hat.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SITTING HERE FOR! GET OUT!"
Many of the bus's passengers get out of the bus. Kyle yawns and closes his eyes to get some much needed sleep.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BOY?" the man yells at Kyle.
"I haven't had much sleep, man," says Kyle. "I just want to take a little nap here. It's late, and it's not like the bus..."
Kyle is interrupted when he is yanked out of his seat. "I TOLD YOU TO GET OFF THIS BUS, AND YOU WILL GET OFF THIS BUS. YOU UNDERSTAND, RECRUIT."
"Uh, sure," says Kyle. He immediately steps off the bus. He sees everyone else is lined up, so he decides to line up as well.
"I WANT EVERYONE TO STAND AT ATTENTION!" yells the man who greeted the bus passengers. The man approaches Kyle. "WHY AREN;T YOU STANDING AT ATTENTION."
"Hey, man, I'm not sitting down," replies the teenager.
The man straightens Kyle. "YOU STAND WITH YOUR BACK STRAIGHT AND YOUR HEAD UP."
"Okay."
The uniformed man then faces all of the new recruits. "HELLO, RECRUITS. I AM MASTER SERGEANT EDWARDS, UNITED STATES ARMY, CHIEF DRILL INSTRUCTOR FOR THE JUNEAU TRAINING REGIMENT. YOU WILL CALL ME DRILL SERGEANT. NOW, IT IS TIME TO MAKE YOU INTO SOLDIERS." Sergeant Edwards approaches Kyle. "DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY."
"Twenty what?" asks Kyle as he yawns.
"TWENTY PUSHUPS, YOU DICKHEAD!"
"Okay, man," says Kyle as he gets on all fours.
"Say that again."
Kyle is confused for a moment, and then he remembers. "Yes, drill sergeant!" He then proceeds to do twenty push ups, which takes him about eight minutes."
The other recruits stare at him. "DON'T BE STARING AT THIS RECRUIT HERE!" yells Edwards. "THERE'S PLENTY OF PUSHUPS FOR ALL OF YOU. NOW YOU GO GET OUT OF THOSE RAGS YOU CALL CLOTHES, AND WE GET REAL CLOTHES! FOLLOW ME."
K;ly and the others follow the chief drill instructor into the building. They all line up. After a good thirty minutes or so, Kyle finds himself into a lobby.
"Okay, recruits!" a harsh woman yells. "Men to the left, women to the right. If you're not sure, pull down your pants and I'll tell you where to go."
Kyle proceeds to the left. He sees a bunch of leather chairs.
"Why, hello there," a man says. "Have a seat."
A sheet is placed over Kyle, covering all but his head. then one of the men in the room grabs his hair and cuts it. Soon, Kyle's long, brown locks are snippets on the floor.
That is not the end of it. the barber takes a buzzing device and rubs it against Kyle's scalp.
"You're done," the man says to Kyle. Kyle looks and sees himself in the mirror. His head was just shaved bald!
Next, Kyle goes into a room marked MALE UNIFORMS. A male drill sergeant tells everyone to strip off all of their clothes. Soon the room is full of naked men.
Then each recruit is given clothing wrapped in cellophane. Kyle opens the cellophane and it contains his whole uniform, including socks and underwear.
finally, all the recruits are assembled and rollcall is made. Kyle notices everyone is replying with a shout, so he does just that when Master Sergeant Edwards yells his name out.
Kyle then follows one of the drill sergeants who leads them to this building. It contains rows of beds.
"Lights out!" yells the drill sergeant. Kyle picks one of the beds, a bed much more comfortable than any he has ever slept in, and drifts to sleep within seconds.
.............................................................................
May 13, 2020
"Everybody up!"
Kyle wakes up, still groggy. He looks outside the window. It is still dark.
"The sun isn't even up," he says, yawning.
"THE SUN IS NOT UNDER MY COMMAND, RECRUIT!" yells Sergeant First Class Winter, the drill instructor. "YOU ARE."
Kyle gets the message and stands at attention along with everyone else. His stomach growls and he wonders if they are having breakfast now.
"EVERYONE FALL IN!" yells the drill instructor. Kyle and the others follow Sergeant Winter, expecting to be led to the mess hall for breakfast.
Instead, they start running more laps than they can count, and then they do push-ups and sit-ups. It is a long time before they have breakfast.
.............................................................................
June 3, 2020
Kyle Reese sits in the auditorium along with the rest of the recruits- all of them. He has learned a lot in the past four weeks of basic training. In addition to daily physical training, he ran an obstacle course, shot rifles, thrown hand grenades, even took a whiff of tear gas. He still has vivid memories of that burning sensation. He also learned military customs and traditions and studied battle tactics. Each Sunday there were religious services held by the chaplains. And of course, Kyle did his share of KP.
Master Sergeant Edwards stands behind the podium. He faces all of the recruits in the room.
"Good morning, recruits," he says to the recuits.
"Good morning, Master Sergeant," all of the recruits say.
"Today you will be briefed on the enemy that you will all fight," says the chief drill instructor. "And who-or should I say what-is better to brief us than a defector. Send the thing in."
Kyle sees a figure walking to the podium. He recognizes it, for it looks like the robots that were operating the Pensacola death camp. Kyle notices the sole sensor eye in the robot's head.
Edwards faces the metal figure. "Tell everyone in this room what you are."
"I am a terminator, Cyberdyne Systems Model 085, Series 400," says a voice coming from the robot's speaker. Kyle notices the accent. "My current mission is to brief the recruits on Skynet and its military assets under the direction of the Juneau Training Regiment."
Soldiers pass small booklets to the recruits. Kyle reads through it.
"I was constructed in the Cyberdyne Systems factory in Santa Clara, California," says the T-400. "My original purpose was to conduct infantry combat operations under Skynet's control. I was captured in battle in the Canadian province of British Columbia. My wireless modem was removed and I was reprogrammed to serve the Resistance."
"Tell us about Skynet and its forces," says Edwards.
"Skynet is a battlefield management system which operates over a computer network," says the terminator. "All combat and support units and facilities are connected to each other through wireless modems. Satellites relay data between Skynet's machines."
"Those brochures should give you all the latest intel the Resistance has gathered."
Kyle looks through the booklet. He reads about the various models of terminators. He look at illustrations of the T-400, the bulky terminators that operated the Pensacola death camp. He reads about the T-500, which looks like the T-400 except that it is less bulky. And he reads about the T-600, which look like steel skeletons. The T-600's were the ones who captured him and his mother and brought them to Pensacola.
He reads more about the Hunter-Killers, or HK's, which provide close air support for the infantry. HK's looks like steel birds-Kyle had seen these in the attack against his village earlier this year. He reads about the armor units and combat aircraft. He reads that all Skynet forces are connected via wireless modem, just as the T-400 had said.
............................
After the briefing with the terminator, Kyle sits in the mess hall having dinner. Unlike most dinners, this dinner is the second meal of the day; the Army refers to the third meal as supper. Dinner consists of chicken and rice.
"I didn't know we had those things on our side," says Lance Houser, whom Kyle knew from the Pensacola death camp.
"At least we can use them as cannon fodder," says Kyle.
"what makes you think they won't turn on us?" asks Tony Sutter.
"I'm sure they have safeguards," says Houser.
"I bet Skynet's creators said the same thing." Sutter takes a sip of his water.
...............................................
June 15, 2020
The morning horn blows, and Kyle Reese wakes up.
"All right, men!" shouts Sergeant Winter. "Today is the big day."
"Our last day of basic training?" asks Lance Houser.
"No, smartass. Today we go on a forty-eight hour hike! Pack your shit, we leave right now."
Within minutes, Kyle packs his things into a bag. He had heard about this upcoming march, and his drill instructors kept telling him and his company how hard it would be.
Of course, he had not appreciated how hard it would be-until he was hiking up a steep mountain trail with one hundred pounds of gear, just as the sun was peeking above the horizon.
Master Sergeant Edwards was leading all of the recruits- the men and the women. Kyle notices that Edwards seems to be enjoying this too much.
Sometime in the midafternoon, Sergeant Edwards announces it is time for dinner. Kyle and most of the recruits open their rations.
"Ahem," says Edwards. "We rely on our rations as a last resort. Look around you. This is Alaska, ladies and gentlemen. There is plenty of game for us to hunt."
"We have to hunt for food?" asks a recruit.
"It's no big deal," says Kyle. "I used to live in a village in the mountains; hunting is where we got our meat."
"I grew up in the city-ship Metropolis. Maybe I should've joined the Navy."
And so the recruits hunt and forage for their food. Needless to say, they did not eat much.
Kyle goes to sleep in a sleeping bag. Conditions are truly more primitive than they were in the mountain village.
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June 17, 2020
Kyle Reese is real sore by the time he wakes up this morning. His whole body feels sore. He gets up and stretches his tired arms.
"All right, you people!" yells Sergeant Edwards. "Let's head back!"
And so they begin their trek back to the barracks. The descent from the mountain is even harder than the ascent, due to their tired bodies. Kyle notices that even Edwards shows signs of fatigue.
It seems like an eternity before they catch sight of the barracks and mess hall and the regiment's headquarters.
"I suppose it won't hurt for you to have a little R & R," says Edwards. And soon the recruits are sleeping or at least resting, trying to recover their strength from a fourty-eight plus hours camping trip. Kyle is asleep only seconds after he closes his eyes.
Kyle is awakened by a loud siren. He recognizes this, for he heard this siren, once before.
It is the air raid siren.
"All right, people!" yells Sergeant Winter. "This is the real thing."
"The real thing?" asks Houser.
Sergeant Winter leads his recruits outside. They all hear the message, "This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill." Kyle wonders when the enemy planes will reach Juneau.
His question is answered by a loud thunder. The recruits get down. Kyle looks up and sees planes flying overhead at incredible speed.
"We'd better get to the shelter, people!" yells Winter. "Let the Air Force take care of the enemy planes."
As the recruits make their way to the base's bomb shelters, Kyle glances up and sees explosions in the sky. He wonders if those are Skynet's planes being blown out of the sky-or their own.
Just a few yards before they reach the bomb shelter, the air raid siren stops. For a moment they wonder if the power supply to the siren was cut off by one of the bombs.
"Attention, everyone," says a voice. "Air raid warning is over. The enemy attack has been repelled by our fighters."
Sergeant Winter does a head count of his company. Everyone is okay.
Kyle looks around and sees that the regiment headquarters building is on fire. He immediately rushes over there.
"Anyone in there?" Kyle asks a soldier.
"I don't know," replies the soldier.
Klye takes a look around. He peers into one of the burning rooms.
He sees a man trapped under a filing cabinet. Instinctively, he grabs a shovel from a toolshed and then shatters the window. He leaps into the room, coughing as the smoke enters his lungs.
With all of his might, he lifts the filing cabinet and frees the trapped man. He then goes out of the window.
He listens for respiration, and there is none, so he begins artificial respiration which he learned from a basic training class on emergency medical care.
The man coughs. Only now does Kyle Reese take a closer look. The man he had rescued is none other than the chief drill instrcutor, Master Sergeant Edwards!
"What is going on here?" asks the regiment commander.
"The sergeant here was trapped, sir," replies Kyle. "I got him out.
............................................
June 19, 2020
Today is graduation day for the recruits, as they become privates in the United States Army. Kyle Reese stands tall with the rest of his company, dressed in an Army dress uniform. Sergeant Winter examines each of his recruits, most of whom will be assigned to the Resistance.
They all march, with the company commander carrying the flag. Then all of the recruits face in the same direction.
They see the regiment commander and Master Sergeant Edwards, whose left leg is in a cast. Edwards stands behind the podium and speaks into the microphone.
"Recruits," he says. "the past six weeks have been a harrowing experience. I and the other drill instructors saw you evolve into soldiers. I observe the same evolution I saw in myself twenty-four years ago when I went through basic training.
"I know that these times are trying times, times of crisis. We have done our best and beyond to prepare you for the hardships of your duties. Just remember that you follow in the footsteps of those who came before you, who served in their own times of crisis. It is through our strength that we shall overcome the enemy, and whatever awaits us ahead."
Then each and every recruit greets the regiment commander. When Kyle comes up, he salutes and then shakes handsa with the regiment commander and Sergeant Edwards.
It is over. Basic training has been completed. Now almost all of these new privates will join the fight against the machines.
"Excuse me, are you Private Reese?" a man asks.
Kyle looks and sees a man in an Army uniform, with the rank insignia of a first lieutenant. His nametag identifies him as Van Owen. He notices the lieutenant has two companions.
One of them is an Army corporal with black hair and a moustache. The other was a T-500 terminator, shaped like a suit of armor. Kyle notices the reaction of the recruits who caught sight of the T-500.
"Yes, sir, I am Private Kyle Reese," he says, giving the lieutenant a salute.
"I am Lieutenant Van Owen from Crystal Peak," says the officer. "You are ordered to come with us to Crystal Peak."
"And why did you bring this tin can here with you?" asks Reese.
"I was sent here by the Resistance to ensure your survival," says the terminator.
"Why would they send a terminator to escort me?" asks the new private.
"The orders come from the general himself," says Van Owen.
"What is this Crystal Peak anyway?"
"Crystal Peak is the headquarters for TechCom, the Resistance," says the T-500 in a flat, monotone accented voice.