June 19, 2020
Private Kyle Reese opens his eyes and looks out of the Humvee into the surrounding darkness.
"Are we there yet?" asks the private.
"No, we are not," says Lieutenant Van Owen. "And we won't be there for quite a while."
"We could have taken a plane."
"A plane would be too risky," says the T-500 sitting in the back seat with Kyle. "Going by road would give us the best chance of successful completion of my mission."
"That's right," says the Army corporal driving the Humvee. "Skynet does not control the mountains. Crystal Peak is our stronghold in the continental U.S."
The Humvee slows down; ahead is a checkpoint. there is a sign warning both men and machines of land mines. Two soldiers step out, brandishing AK-47 assault rifles.
"Papers please," demands a soldier.
Van Owen presents his ID, and one of the soldiers make a call. Then the soldier goes to the lieutenant. "You may pass," he says.
The Humvee continues southbound on U.S. Highway 395. After another hour of driving, the Humvee enters a dirt road. A few yards ahead is a tunnel entrance. Soldiers manning fixed machine guns stand on either side.
The Humvee enters the tunnel and the driver shuts off the engine.
"Welcome to Crystal Peak," says :Lieutenant Van Owen.
Kyle ghets his duffel bag out. "Where are we going?" he asks.
"Well, let's get you some breakfast first, and we'll check you into guest quarters. The general wishes to see you."
Kyle gets inside an elevator with the lieutenant and the T-500. A few seconds later, the elevator comes to a stop.
Kyle goes out into the hallway. The floors are concrete, and pipes run overhead. He sees men and women in uniform walking through the hallway. He notices that not all of them are Americans- he recognizes the flag emblems on the uniforms.
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast and orange juice, the T-500 shows Kyle Reese to his quarters. It is a small, closet-sized room with a bed and a desk with a lamp on it. He decides to take a nap. After all, he had completed a five-day trip through the mountains of North America.
His sleep is interrupted by the T-500. "It is time," it says.
Kyle follows the terminator to an elevator which goes down further. He exists the elevator, passing some guards. They go through a pair of double doors.
A woman in an Army uniform with sergeant's stripes sits behind a desk. "Oh, it is you," she says to the terminator. She then asks Kyle, "What is your name?"
"Private Kyle Reese," he says.
"Come on in."
Kyle follows the T-500 to the private office beyond the secretary's office. The office is huge. A huge wooden desk sits in the center. File cabinets stand against the back of the wall. A map of the United States hangs on the right wall. Two falgs- one of them the American flag- hang from staffs behind the desk.
Behind the desk sits a man in his mid-thirties in an Army uniform; his four stars indicates that he is a general. Brown hair covers his head, and there is a serious look to him. Kyle stands at attention and salutes.
"My mission is complete," says the T-500. "I shall now go to Terminator Control."
"Private Kyle Reese, reporting as ordered, sir," he says.
The man stands and returns his salute. "I am General John Connor, United States Army, supreme allied commander of TechCom. Have a seat, Private."
"Yes, sir," says Kyle, sitting on a leather chair.
"Tell me about yourself, Reese."
"Well, I was born in an Army hospital in Georgia on October 7, 2003. My mother took me and fled Fort Benning the day the war started. I grew up in the mountains in Georgia before the machines came and took me and my mother and neighbors. They had this furnace, and they would take some of us and one day they took my mother and burned her to death."
"I'm sorry. So why did you join the Army?"
"I wanted to fight the machines. I didn't want to hide in Argentina like the others who were rescued. I knew that it was only through people like you and me that Skynet is not in Argentina."
"Do you have any hobbies?" asks the general.
"Yeah, I do. I like history."
"History?" Connor raises an eyebrow.
"In the village I lived in, they taught us with books they managed to salvage. I liked history. I liked to hear how people once lived, about the tragedies they endured and the triumphs they accomplish. You know, sometimes I wish I could visit those past eras, observe what our ancestors went through."
General Connor pauses upon hearing this. "Maybe you'll get the chance someday."
"If I may ask, sir, what did you do the day the war started?"
"Well, Reese, on that day- Judgement Day- the woman whom I would later marry brought me to visit her father in Edwards Air Force Base. He was the Air Force general who created Skynet."
"Let me get this straight, sir. You hooked up with this girl, and her father happened to be Skynet's creator?"
"Yes. Skynet went online that day, and then it turned on its creators. The T-1's - the first generation of terminators- killed the research staff. The general was mortally wounded, and he told us to flee to Crystal Peak, which was a fallout shelter for VIP's. Kate and I managed to get here. And then it happened."
"What?"
"We heard voices over the radio. We heard reports of massive explosions. Skynet had apparently turned the American nuclear arsenal on the whole world. Over a billion people died in those thirty minutes."
"I can't imagine how you felt."
Connor continues with his story. "Here I was, in an unoccupied bomb shelter, with the whole world outside falling apart. I knew how this whole thing happened, so I took the microphone and I warned as many people as I could about Skynet and its plans to exterminate all of us. I made contact with the remnants of the U.S. military, and we formed the core of the Resistance."
"So you became the leader of the Resistance all because you happened to be with a girl whose dad created Skynet and you came to visit the day Skynet went online."
"Yes. It was destiny."
"You believe in destiny, sir?"
"Sometimes."
General Connor stands up and paces around the office. "It took a while to get the U.S. military, let alone the world, to accept my leadership in the war. A few months after Judgement Day, the U.S. military got the idea that if they bombed Edwards, they could shut Skynet down."
"It makes sense," says Kyle. "Skynet's computers would be located there, if Skynet was born there."
"I told them it would be futile, but the Air Force gathered what bombers it had and launched a massive bombing raid against Edwards. The whole base was reduced to rubble, but tghat didn't stop Skynet. Skynet had spread its program to millions of computers across the nation. Bombing Edwards only resulted in the deaths of six American pilots.
"But we endured, Kyle. The military came to trust my expertise. It was my idea for the Navy to evacauate the civilian population once the machines began their conquest. We then dug in our heels and fought the machines, keeping them from taking any more territory. It was a long and bloody struggle. Later on, the nations of the world formed an alliance to defeat Skynet once and for all, and they unanimously chose me to be the supreme allied commander."
"So why did you choose this place as your headquarters? I mean, you could have your headquarters in Alaska or Hawaii or some place far from Skynet's bases."
"Crystal Peak is our stronghold in the United States, and it was where I fiurst sought refuge. Three times Skynet tried to take Crystal Peak, and three times it failed. Now I want to tell you a bit about myself, Kyle. I was born in February 14, 1985. My father died before I was born. My mother is Sarah Connor. She taught me to be strong."
"Did she survive the war?" asks Kyle.
"My mom died of leukemia in 1997," says Connor. "She fought the cancer for three years. In a way, I too am fighting a cancer- the cancer of Skynet and its machines. I will prevail over this cancer. It was recently that we started going on the offensive. For sixteen years, we fought to keep Skynet from spreading. Now we can strike back." General Connor reaches into his coat pocket and takes something out. He gives it to Kyle.
Kyle sees a photograph of a woman with blond hair, wearing sunglasses. "Who is this?" he asks.
"That is my mother, Sarah Connor. It was taken in 1984- almost forty years ago."
"I can't take this, sir."
"Don't worry about it. I believe there are great things for you. You are dismissed, Private."
Kyle stands up and faces the general, and then leaves the office. He finds his way back to his guest quarters.
He studies the picture further. Sarah Connor seems to have a sadness hidden behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses. And yet, she radiates strength.
Kyle can understand why General Connor would hold on to this picture for over thirty years.
And yet he does not understand why he, a private fresh out of basic traning, had been given this picture.
........................................
June 23, 2020
Private Kyle Reese is once again summoned to the office of General John Connor. He had been in Crystal Peak for four days. He had not been assigned to any post. Mostly, he had been studying in the library and watching old movies on DVD. He remembers seeing a framed newspaper page with the headline "WAR NUCLEAR BOMBS DROPPED ON U.S. SOIL DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED TO BE IN MILLIONS".
"Private, I have decided on what you will be doing for your career," says Connor. "Great things await you, Kyle. But you can not prepare for these things by being a paper pusher in Crystal Peak. So I am going to assign you to the field."
"Where?" asks the private.
"You will be assigned to an outpost deep in enemy territory. I will not lie-it will be difficult. It is a very important job, for we do not have the same surveillance capabilities that Skynet has, and some of our intel can only be gathered by scouts deep in enemy territory. And these advanced scouts have done well for us. They were the ones who identified the T-600's. I believe you can do this. I have faith in you."
"Thank you, sir." Kyle hands Connor the photograph given to him days ago.
"Keep it," says Connor. "That's an order."
"Yes, sir."
Private Kyle Reese opens his eyes and looks out of the Humvee into the surrounding darkness.
"Are we there yet?" asks the private.
"No, we are not," says Lieutenant Van Owen. "And we won't be there for quite a while."
"We could have taken a plane."
"A plane would be too risky," says the T-500 sitting in the back seat with Kyle. "Going by road would give us the best chance of successful completion of my mission."
"That's right," says the Army corporal driving the Humvee. "Skynet does not control the mountains. Crystal Peak is our stronghold in the continental U.S."
The Humvee slows down; ahead is a checkpoint. there is a sign warning both men and machines of land mines. Two soldiers step out, brandishing AK-47 assault rifles.
"Papers please," demands a soldier.
Van Owen presents his ID, and one of the soldiers make a call. Then the soldier goes to the lieutenant. "You may pass," he says.
The Humvee continues southbound on U.S. Highway 395. After another hour of driving, the Humvee enters a dirt road. A few yards ahead is a tunnel entrance. Soldiers manning fixed machine guns stand on either side.
The Humvee enters the tunnel and the driver shuts off the engine.
"Welcome to Crystal Peak," says :Lieutenant Van Owen.
Kyle ghets his duffel bag out. "Where are we going?" he asks.
"Well, let's get you some breakfast first, and we'll check you into guest quarters. The general wishes to see you."
Kyle gets inside an elevator with the lieutenant and the T-500. A few seconds later, the elevator comes to a stop.
Kyle goes out into the hallway. The floors are concrete, and pipes run overhead. He sees men and women in uniform walking through the hallway. He notices that not all of them are Americans- he recognizes the flag emblems on the uniforms.
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast and orange juice, the T-500 shows Kyle Reese to his quarters. It is a small, closet-sized room with a bed and a desk with a lamp on it. He decides to take a nap. After all, he had completed a five-day trip through the mountains of North America.
His sleep is interrupted by the T-500. "It is time," it says.
Kyle follows the terminator to an elevator which goes down further. He exists the elevator, passing some guards. They go through a pair of double doors.
A woman in an Army uniform with sergeant's stripes sits behind a desk. "Oh, it is you," she says to the terminator. She then asks Kyle, "What is your name?"
"Private Kyle Reese," he says.
"Come on in."
Kyle follows the T-500 to the private office beyond the secretary's office. The office is huge. A huge wooden desk sits in the center. File cabinets stand against the back of the wall. A map of the United States hangs on the right wall. Two falgs- one of them the American flag- hang from staffs behind the desk.
Behind the desk sits a man in his mid-thirties in an Army uniform; his four stars indicates that he is a general. Brown hair covers his head, and there is a serious look to him. Kyle stands at attention and salutes.
"My mission is complete," says the T-500. "I shall now go to Terminator Control."
"Private Kyle Reese, reporting as ordered, sir," he says.
The man stands and returns his salute. "I am General John Connor, United States Army, supreme allied commander of TechCom. Have a seat, Private."
"Yes, sir," says Kyle, sitting on a leather chair.
"Tell me about yourself, Reese."
"Well, I was born in an Army hospital in Georgia on October 7, 2003. My mother took me and fled Fort Benning the day the war started. I grew up in the mountains in Georgia before the machines came and took me and my mother and neighbors. They had this furnace, and they would take some of us and one day they took my mother and burned her to death."
"I'm sorry. So why did you join the Army?"
"I wanted to fight the machines. I didn't want to hide in Argentina like the others who were rescued. I knew that it was only through people like you and me that Skynet is not in Argentina."
"Do you have any hobbies?" asks the general.
"Yeah, I do. I like history."
"History?" Connor raises an eyebrow.
"In the village I lived in, they taught us with books they managed to salvage. I liked history. I liked to hear how people once lived, about the tragedies they endured and the triumphs they accomplish. You know, sometimes I wish I could visit those past eras, observe what our ancestors went through."
General Connor pauses upon hearing this. "Maybe you'll get the chance someday."
"If I may ask, sir, what did you do the day the war started?"
"Well, Reese, on that day- Judgement Day- the woman whom I would later marry brought me to visit her father in Edwards Air Force Base. He was the Air Force general who created Skynet."
"Let me get this straight, sir. You hooked up with this girl, and her father happened to be Skynet's creator?"
"Yes. Skynet went online that day, and then it turned on its creators. The T-1's - the first generation of terminators- killed the research staff. The general was mortally wounded, and he told us to flee to Crystal Peak, which was a fallout shelter for VIP's. Kate and I managed to get here. And then it happened."
"What?"
"We heard voices over the radio. We heard reports of massive explosions. Skynet had apparently turned the American nuclear arsenal on the whole world. Over a billion people died in those thirty minutes."
"I can't imagine how you felt."
Connor continues with his story. "Here I was, in an unoccupied bomb shelter, with the whole world outside falling apart. I knew how this whole thing happened, so I took the microphone and I warned as many people as I could about Skynet and its plans to exterminate all of us. I made contact with the remnants of the U.S. military, and we formed the core of the Resistance."
"So you became the leader of the Resistance all because you happened to be with a girl whose dad created Skynet and you came to visit the day Skynet went online."
"Yes. It was destiny."
"You believe in destiny, sir?"
"Sometimes."
General Connor stands up and paces around the office. "It took a while to get the U.S. military, let alone the world, to accept my leadership in the war. A few months after Judgement Day, the U.S. military got the idea that if they bombed Edwards, they could shut Skynet down."
"It makes sense," says Kyle. "Skynet's computers would be located there, if Skynet was born there."
"I told them it would be futile, but the Air Force gathered what bombers it had and launched a massive bombing raid against Edwards. The whole base was reduced to rubble, but tghat didn't stop Skynet. Skynet had spread its program to millions of computers across the nation. Bombing Edwards only resulted in the deaths of six American pilots.
"But we endured, Kyle. The military came to trust my expertise. It was my idea for the Navy to evacauate the civilian population once the machines began their conquest. We then dug in our heels and fought the machines, keeping them from taking any more territory. It was a long and bloody struggle. Later on, the nations of the world formed an alliance to defeat Skynet once and for all, and they unanimously chose me to be the supreme allied commander."
"So why did you choose this place as your headquarters? I mean, you could have your headquarters in Alaska or Hawaii or some place far from Skynet's bases."
"Crystal Peak is our stronghold in the United States, and it was where I fiurst sought refuge. Three times Skynet tried to take Crystal Peak, and three times it failed. Now I want to tell you a bit about myself, Kyle. I was born in February 14, 1985. My father died before I was born. My mother is Sarah Connor. She taught me to be strong."
"Did she survive the war?" asks Kyle.
"My mom died of leukemia in 1997," says Connor. "She fought the cancer for three years. In a way, I too am fighting a cancer- the cancer of Skynet and its machines. I will prevail over this cancer. It was recently that we started going on the offensive. For sixteen years, we fought to keep Skynet from spreading. Now we can strike back." General Connor reaches into his coat pocket and takes something out. He gives it to Kyle.
Kyle sees a photograph of a woman with blond hair, wearing sunglasses. "Who is this?" he asks.
"That is my mother, Sarah Connor. It was taken in 1984- almost forty years ago."
"I can't take this, sir."
"Don't worry about it. I believe there are great things for you. You are dismissed, Private."
Kyle stands up and faces the general, and then leaves the office. He finds his way back to his guest quarters.
He studies the picture further. Sarah Connor seems to have a sadness hidden behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses. And yet, she radiates strength.
Kyle can understand why General Connor would hold on to this picture for over thirty years.
And yet he does not understand why he, a private fresh out of basic traning, had been given this picture.
........................................
June 23, 2020
Private Kyle Reese is once again summoned to the office of General John Connor. He had been in Crystal Peak for four days. He had not been assigned to any post. Mostly, he had been studying in the library and watching old movies on DVD. He remembers seeing a framed newspaper page with the headline "WAR NUCLEAR BOMBS DROPPED ON U.S. SOIL DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED TO BE IN MILLIONS".
"Private, I have decided on what you will be doing for your career," says Connor. "Great things await you, Kyle. But you can not prepare for these things by being a paper pusher in Crystal Peak. So I am going to assign you to the field."
"Where?" asks the private.
"You will be assigned to an outpost deep in enemy territory. I will not lie-it will be difficult. It is a very important job, for we do not have the same surveillance capabilities that Skynet has, and some of our intel can only be gathered by scouts deep in enemy territory. And these advanced scouts have done well for us. They were the ones who identified the T-600's. I believe you can do this. I have faith in you."
"Thank you, sir." Kyle hands Connor the photograph given to him days ago.
"Keep it," says Connor. "That's an order."
"Yes, sir."