Anguirus111 Note: I really hated the direction this story had been going so I've rewritten just about the entire thing so it will be more along the lines of my original vision. I've seen Terminator 3 and I really liked it so I've incorporated that story into my own. So basically the first three movies have all occurred, but an event will be changed at the end of the third movie so that things don't turn out the same. BTW, read the novel, it'll make more sense to what I'm writing. All commentary is John Connor's.
2003, CRS Laboratories, Edwards Air Force Base: General Brewster reached out to touch the keypad and activate Skynet. But just before he touched the screen, he pulled up his arm and violently sneezed. He looked up in a sort of a daze from the sneeze.
"Sorry," he said. He then reached for the keyboard when Kate Brewster appeared just outside the room.
"Daddy?" she asked. General Brewster turned to face her having still not touched the keypad.
"Kate, honey, what are you doing here?" he asked. Then several bullets struck Kate and she fell over. He ran to her when he heard another voice.
"Get away from it!" someone shouted. Brewster spun around to see another Kate on the other side of the room with two men, one of them holding an AK-47. Brewster was confused out of his mind and then he saw the original Kate get up and fire several rounds into him from her pistol. Brewster prepared for the impact and closed his eyes. However the bullets never came so he looked to Kate being flung backwards by grenades being fired by the tall individual. Kate was then flung backwards through the ventilation shaft. The figure walked to the ventilation shaft and looked down it.
"She'll be back," said the Terminator.
"What's going on here?" demanded General Brewster. The figure walked back to him as people began vacating the room.
"The end of the world unless we stop it. Has Skynet gained control of the military yet?" asked John. The Terminator glanced over a few screens.
"Negative, Skynet is self-aware, but not in control. At least not yet," said the Terminator. Brewster poked up at the work 'Skynet'.
"How do you know about a top secret government project?" he demanded.
"There's no time! We have to shutdown Skynet before Judgment Day occurs," said John.
"What?" asked Brewster again confused. John groaned.
"Daddy, all explanations can wait until later, we do need to shut down Skynet," said Kate leading him out of the room towards his office.
"But it is going to fight the virus," said Brewster.
"It is the virus!" shouted John.
"No, no that isn't possible," said Brewster, but inwardly he knew it had to be true.
"Oh yes, it is. Give him a brief overlay of what's going to happen," said John to the Terminator as they kept walking down various hallways.
"In less that an hour, Skynet will launch all of the United States nuclear weapons at targets all over the world. At least three billion lives will perish on that day while the radiation will permanently blot out the sunlight. Skynet then creates Hunter Killers and Terminators to eradicate the remaining human population. John Connor and Katherine Brewster will lead the remaining humans to various victories over Skynet," said the Terminator checking a hallway for any sign of the T-X or other CRS technology. They could hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions that indicated that while Skynet might've had some control over various robots, it did not have much control beyond that.
"How do you know all that?" demanded Brewster. The Terminator tilted his head to show a piece of metal underneath his skin.
"I am from that future," he said. Brewster's eyes went wide-open.
"Oh my god," he said as suddenly everything seemed to make sense. "Then that other Kate, she was another Terminator from the future?"
"Correct," said the Terminator. He stopped at another intersection and motion for them to stop. Two T-1's were at both ends of the hallway searching for any remaining humans.
"I'll be back," said the Terminator as it disappeared into the ceiling above. Brewster just shook his head.
"I must be dreaming," he said. Connor laughed.
"Now you know how I feel everyday," he said. Then several shots were heard, as the two T-1's seemed to open fire on each other. Then the firing stopped and the Terminator appeared.
"Let's move," he said. They entered into the General's office and John locked the door for whatever safety that could provide them.
"How do we shut down Skynet?" asked John.
"You can't, at least not like it has an on and off switch. Besides, if this thing is as intelligent as you claim, then I don't think it could be shut down so easily," said Brewster.
"We don't need to worry about shutting it down just yet, we just need to make sure it can't gain access to the United States arsenal of nuclear warheads," said John. Brewster's eyes went wide open.
"Oh no!" he said.
"What?" Kate demanded.
"Back in the control room, I had the choice of truly activating Skynet or not. It was simple, yes or no. But I didn't press the button," said Brewster.
"Shit! That means that Skynet is only a hairbreadth away from ending the world! We've got to hit no," said John. He headed for the door when the Terminator held him back.
"That move is tactically dangerous. There are more T-1's and H-K's roaming the building. I will do it," said the Terminator.
"What do we do? Just sit around and do nothing?" asked John. The Terminator shook his head.
"No. Use the C-4 you have and destroy this building," said the Terminator.
"But that'll destroy you…" said John. The Terminator nodded.
"And the T-X thereby totally eradicating any trace of future technology and anything left of CRS technology," said the Terminator.
"But I can't loose you again," said John weakly. The Terminator faced him.
"Based on my interactions with humans, I know that you never can truly let go of someone. You will forever remember me and I will remember you for as long as my powercell is active. Goodbye," said the Terminator and with that he left. John began crying in silence.
"C'mon, he's doing his duty, now let's do ours," said Kate. John nodded weakly.
"Hit the deck!" shouted Brewster. The three of them dropped to the ground as a missile flew in through the outside window and exploded flinging debris everywhere.
"What was that?" asked Connor as he ran to the window and looked out at the carnage below.
"An H-K. Let's go," said Brewster. The group ran out into the hallway.
"Where do we plant the C-4?" Connor asked.
"Along the particle accelerator. If we turn it on and then plant the C-4, the explosion should take out the building," said Brewster as they ran down the hallway. Behind them, the flying H-K tracked them in silence waiting for its opportunity to strike.
Control Room: The Terminator walked into the room where several people lay dead and everything had been chewed up by bullets. He wandered over to the control screen and was about to press N when he was suddenly flung upwards into the ceiling. He hit it with a thud and fell back down. From the floor where he had been standing, the T-X hauled herself out of the floor. She too glanced over the computer screen and was about to press Y when the Terminator tackled her from behind. They crashed through a window that shattered spraying glass everywhere. They landed in the R&D area and began battling it out among the desks and conceptual drawings of other CRS concepts. They punched and kicked at each other with each knowing that whoever won would determine the future of the planet and the future of Skynet. The Terminator briefly wondered if it was ironic that two of Skynet's creations would be battling to determine its future, but he filed that away as he continued his battle with the T-X. Chairs were thrown and tables uprooted as the two cyborgs began hammering on each other as each tried to defeat the other.
Elsewhere: General Brewster, Kate, and John had just arrived at the particle accelerator.
"Set up the C-4 along the pipe near all of the emergency exits while I power it up. As soon as the C-4 is set, we'll take an emergency exit to the hanger and fly out of here," said Brewster.
"What then?" John asked.
"Assuming the bombs aren't being dropped, we'll try and make contact with the government and inform them of what Skynet has done. Then we'll just see what happens," said Brewster. Kate and John nodded and ran off to the accelerator as Brewster powered it up before proceeding after them. As soon as he entered into the tube, the H-K appeared in the booth. It glanced at a schematic of the tube and then zoomed off down a hallway.
R&D Labs: The Terminator was reeling from the damage it had sustained for the T-X. His endoskeleton was showing in several places and sparks were flying from his right arm. The T-X only had superficial damage. The Terminator knew that it was loosing, but it's programming only allowed it to fight and not run. As he searched for options to defend himself the H-K flew by down a hallway. It then paused and fired a missile at the Terminator that barely managed to dodge it and it flew on its course and smashed into the T-X blowing it backwards through a wall, the H-K merely continued on with its path. The Terminator knew this gave it a little bit of breathing room, but not much. As it glanced at its surroundings, it saw a door that read: T-1 Storage Room. This gave the Terminator an idea and it headed for the room. Behind it, the T-X pulled itself out of the wall and saw the Terminator enter into the room. The T-X then promptly pursued the Terminator and it entered into the bay to find itself staring down a pair of chainguns being held by the Terminator.
"You are history," he said simply. He then pulled the trigger and hundreds of depleted uranium shells coursed out of the guns blasting large pieces of liquid metal skin off of the T-X. Then the bullets hit her battle armor and although it could withstand a single bullet moving at a normal speed from a handgun, these bullets were moving at an incredible rate and their power began severally denting her armor. Then some bullets pierced her armor and began tearing apart her inner circuits. Several of her non-essential systems went offline, and then the chainguns ran dry and they died. The Terminator tried to coax the guns to fire a few more rounds, but the refused. The T-X then promptly smashed the Terminator backwards through the rear wall. It then smashed back into the main control room. Then its systems began shutting down one by one from the damage and the Terminator knew that it had only one chance to stop the T-X or else he would shutdown and his mission would have failed leaving the T-X to destroy John Connor and Katherine Brewster as well as have Skynet create Judgment Day. It's plan of action became clear and it readied itself for the final course of action.
Pipe: "I must say Kate, your fiancé can really handle himself," said Brewster as he slapped another piece of C-4 to the accelerator. Kate was about to say that he wasn't when she considered what the Terminator had said about them. Then she considered what John had said about them going their separate ways. She smiled quietly before slightly crying because of Scott's death.
"It's a long story," she said.
"One I look forward to hearing. When all of this mess is taken care of," he said. John meanwhile was having the same thoughts as he put some more C-4 on the accelerator cannon.
"Forget it, she'd never go for a guy like me, she said so herself," he thought. After he planted the C-4, he turned to look at the Brewster's.
"Looks like that's it. Let's get out of here," he said. The Brewsters nodded and they ran to the emergency exit. However as they saw the ladder in sight, they heard a humming noise. Then to their horror, the flying H-K descended down the hole and aimed its missile at the group and prepared to fire.
"I've failed. The future is going to die after all. No fate my ass!" he thought growling. The H-K promptly fired a missile at the group.
Control Center: The T-X entered into the room to find the offline Terminator. She picked it up like it was a twig and held up so she could view its face. Then to her surprise the Terminator's eyes snapped open and immediately she found something shoved in her mouth. Her scanners revealed it as the Terminator's hydrogen cell. Before she could react, the Terminator picked her up and threw her down the same ventilation shaft she had been sent down earlier.
"And to all a good night," said the Terminator. Then a large explosion went off in the vent and pieces of the T-X went flying everywhere. The Terminator briefly smiled and then summoned up its remaining energy reserves and slowly made its way to the computer console. He only hoped that John Connor and Katherine Brewster had completed their mission.
Pipe: The explosion caused the team to fall over onto the ground as the missile streaked over their heads and smashed against the side of the tunnel. The H-K righted itself and prepared to fire another missile at the group and this time it would not miss. But just as it prepared to fire, it found itself plastered to the particle accelerator. It strained its engines, but it couldn't dislodge itself, much less fire it's missiles.
"What the?" asked John looking up. Brewster helped him up and pushed him and Kate towards the emergency exit.
"The accelerator generates a magnetic field. Now let's get out of here before that thing explodes," said Brewster. They climbed up the ladder and barely exited out the top when the H-K exploded sending a fireball up the exit shaft. They emerged into the hanger, which was thankfully devoid of robot life.
"We'll take my plane," said Brewster. They ran to the civilian aircraft and it taxied out onto the crater marked runway.
"Where're we going?" asked John as he strapped himself in.
"Crystal Peak," he said solemnly.
"Why?" Kate asked. Brewster adjusted some knobs on the plane.
"Because I'm not going to take any chances. If Skynet gains control over the nukes, then we need to find a fallout shelter and there's one at Crystal Peak," said Brewster.
"The Terminator will succeed," said John.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up. If Skynet built that thing do you really believe it'll hinder its own creator? I don't think so and I'm not going to take that chance. We'll hide until we know it's clear and then we'll contact the government and warn them about what Skynet has done," said Brewster. John sat back in his chair with a huff as he didn't know what to think anymore.
Control Room: The Terminator slowly made his way to the computer console. All of his energy was devoted to pressing that button. Finally he reached the keyboard and with his last bit of energy he pressed the 'N' button on the keyboard thus denying Skynet's revenge on humanity for now.
"Aaaannnnd ttttoooo aaallll aaaa ggggoooodddd nnnniiiiigggghhtttt," the Terminator managed to slur with its remaining power. Then its mouth formed a smile and it shut down right before the C-4 blew up the entire complex taking the robots and most of Skynet's AI with it. In the plane, John watched the explosion in the distance with a smile.
We flew onwards towards Crystal Peak just in case Skynet had gained control over some nuclear missile sites, but I knew in my heart that Skynet was on its way to erasure and that we'd stopped Judgment Day. After three days of hiding we emerged to see a brilliant sun greeting us. We took the plane and flew back to Los Angeles where we contacted the government. A few days later we met with them and I told them everything, from the Terminators coming back to the Judgment Day and the war that followed. It felt like a gigantic burden off my chest telling someone who was in charge my story. There was a brief period of arguing about the whole Skynet project but eventually it was decided that any future development of AI technology was 'unsafe'. The president, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Congress all decided to collect what remained of Skynet at Edwards Air Force base and keep it locked up in a secure area never to be touched again. The remains also included that of the two Terminators were damaged beyond use. Still though, at my insistence the government took out their computer processors and kept them well apart from their respective bodies. There was still the matter of the virus, but that was easily taken care of, not the virus, but the plan to eliminate it. Due to my expertise and knowledge of computers, General Brewster personally recommended me. Joining up with some hackers I met online we began combating Skynet and expunging it one computer at a time. During the process Kate and I became closer than ever because we each shared a unique experience with the Terminators. We were married on August 29th, 2013 and our daughter, Samantha, was born that very next year. Skynet was finally erased in 2015 and I finally truly acknowledged that Skynet was gone forever and that I could finally live my life without fear. But I was wrong, even beyond death, Skynet in its dying alternate future would engage in a last ditch effort to eliminate me and like they did three times before the Resistance sent their final savior to help me.
2034: Two flying Hunterkillers raced overhead, firing as the war continued raging on in the future. Several humans opened fire on the HK's as the continued hammering the resistance forces. Back at a recon post, John Connor watched the war raging on.
"C'mon we've got to get there before it's too late. Squad B-12, flank right and attack the cannons. Vehicular unit A-6, get ready to fire," said John. A pair of captured Terminators ran across the destroyed landscape drawing fire from the two HK's as a truck zoomed out of a damaged building and fired a pair of missiles at the two HK's. The missiles struck with deadly accuracy and the HK's crashed to the ground.
"Alright press the advantage. We need to get to that building and I mean now," said John into the radio.
"Sir I don't understand? Why are we advancing towards the building? I thought you said that time was being altered and soon it would rewrite history so the war wouldn't occur. Why aren't we kicking back and enjoying the last moments of the war?" asked John's second in command Barry.
"Because if we don't reach that building than the war isn't over, it's only beginning. Inside that building there's not a time warp, but a dimensional one. Skynet is going to send a Terminator through it and it will rebuild Skynet in that alternate future where I won't be able to stop it and Skynet truly will conquer mankind. We either must stop it or send someone else through to stop that Terminator. We cannot fail," said John. A scout ran up to John.
"Sir, it's started. The temporal storm has just arrived and its rewriting history," said the scout. John looked through his binoculars at the tornados landing everywhere and erasing history.
"Damnit it's early! Screw going slow but steady, we're moving now!" shouted John. He grabbed a laser rifle and ran out into the battlefield along with dozens of soldiers who were advancing across the battlefield towards the building in the distance. But before they could get there, several Terminators and flying and ground based HK's blocked their paths.
"It won't matter if we die now, history's changing anyway, but we must reach that building. Let's go!" shouted John. Everyone roared in agreement as they charged the robots and both sides erupted with laser fire.
"Keep moving forward!" shouted John. The ranks continued advancing forward as the HK's and Terminators returned fire. But something was wrong because they kept missing most of the resistance fighters.
"Something's not right here," said John firing at the Terminator's who fell over.
"Who cares? We've got to get through," said Barry. Behind them the storm kept raging, rewriting history. Eventually the resistance fighters made it into the building and arrived in front of the device, which was on.
"We're too late, Skynet's representative already made it through. T-950, you're mission awaits you," said John.
"Alright I'm moving," said the T-950.
"The future lies on you. Stop that Terminator and Skynet's rebirth. Try and contact myself if possible. Once you're done, you know what to do," said John.
"I understand," said the T-950 simply. With that, he leapt through the portal, but as he did a lightning bolt arced in through the damaged roof and hit the portal before it could close.
"I hope he made it," said John as the temporal twisters hit the building, erasing the war forever.
Midnight, August 29th, 1997: Where Cyberdyne had been there was now a parking lot: Electricity crackled in the night as a giant orb appeared and then vanished leaving a naked individual behind. The individual stood up and looked at the parking lot.
"From the ashes of the past, I will destroy restore Skynet and eliminate John Connor," said the being, walking off into the night.
Midnight, July 4, 2032, Los Angeles: Where Cyberdyne had been there was now a park for children. Electricity crackled in the night as a giant orb appeared and then vanished leaving a fully clothed individual behind. The T-950 first observed some energy crackling around it and slightly smoldering its skin, but this was of no relevance so the T-950 looked around at its surroundings and began judging the time period it had entered. The Terminator sniffed in the air to sample the pollution in the atmosphere. According to its predicting detectors, it had arrived sometime near the turn of the first third of the century. This was good enough for the Terminator, but then it's sensors detected the sawed off shotgun and laser gun from the future as well as it's resistance outfit. The Terminator was unaware as to how it's clothes and guns could have come through the portal with it, but the Terminator reasoned that no one had gone through a time warp that spanned the dimensions so this must have been side effect. However the Terminator knew that in its apparel that was foreign to this reality he would easily stick out like a sore thumb. It noticed two homeless people nearby and it advanced steadily towards them. As it received more information it re-evaluated its earlier assumption that the humans were homeless, this knowledge was in error, they were drug users that may or may not have been homeless. All of this was irrelevant to the Terminator as it did not care about these individuals, it only cared about its missions. The drug users looked up at the individual.
"Smoke?" asked one of them clearly no longer in a correct frame of mind. As the Terminator opened its mouth to request the person's clothes, the human passed out. The Terminator glanced it over and then picked up what the person had been smoking. It sniffed the item and its HUD registered it as marijuana, a joint as the humans referred to it. The Terminator set it back down on the ground and stepped on it with its foot.
"Hey man, don't do that. That's some good shit," said one of them. The Terminator looked at the human quizzically. It then decided that the person's comments did not need to elicit a response so it moved to take off the figure's clothes. One of his companions stood up and pulled out a concealed knife.
"Can't let you do that," said the man. The Terminator looked at the person.
"And I can't let you stop me," said the Terminator. The Terminator stared at the human and then went back to taking off the unconscious one's clothes. The other human debated what to do and then decided it couldn't let this person took his friends clothes. He moved his knife silently towards the man's back when he found his face pressing up against a silver gun barrel.
"I warned you not to stop me," said the Terminator. Across the street a stray cat wandered around searching for a meal when it noticed a flash of light in an alleyway. It looked at the disturbance confused when it saw a human emerge and walk off down the street and got inside an old Pontiac Firebird. The cat wandered off as the car came to a start and zoomed off down the street. The cat wandered into the park and curled up to sleep in the small crater in the ground without giving the human a second thought. The Terminator meanwhile cruised down the street as it moved forth to accomplish its mission.
Cybernet(formerly CRS which was formerly Cyberdyne Systems): Although intelligent AI had been banned from ever being researched, the creation of military weaponry had not and it was that which allowed what remained of CRS to thrive. In his high level office, President and CEO John Brown was perhaps the last one in the building with the exception of some janitors cleaning up the regular offices down below. He had come in after receiving a warning from his computer system should a certain event occur. As he activated the scanners in his office, it confirmed what he had been told, a temporal anomaly had occurred.
"It's about damn time. I've waited long enough for you to show up for the past thirty odd years and finally I'm within stepping distance of recreating Skynet. It's time I activated the Taldeveras," he thought. John activated his scrambler phone and typed in a phone number.
"Talbot," came the response.
"It is time," he said. And with that he hung up and walked to the window. He rubbed his weary eyes and face and looked out at the city of Los Angeles. He then imagined it after its master, Skynet, returned to fulfill its destiny of creating world peace by annihilating mankind. John smiled and left his office.
"Everything is going as planned," he thought with a grin on his face as he exited the building and drove off in his BMW. He drove down a street and watched as a Pontiac Firebird came down the street going the other way. He looked at the driver as the driver looked back as the moment seemed to freeze in time. Then the moment broke and the cars headed off in their opposite directions.