Chapter 9: Confrontation
"So how far do you think he got?" John asked as they continued to drive.
"Who knows." Faye answered. Ahead of them she saw the familiar sight of a blue and white police cruiser. "Cop car." She told John. Nonchalantly he put his arm over the seat, putting the SAW in easy reach if he needed it, but looking like he was just relaxing. He didn't intend to shoot a fellow officer but the sight of his gun would make anyone think twice about trying to stop them. As the two cars passed each other John kept his eyes forward, any suspicious movement would increase the chance they would be stopped. Faye glanced at the car out of the corner of her eye but had to turn and look as she saw the driver. Time seemed to slow as they passed each other. The face was unmistakable, an unreadable expression now with dark sunglasses. They had almost literally run into the Terminator they had been perusing. What was worse while she had noticed the Terminator also noticed her, those inhuman eyes locking onto her behind those dark glasses. Time returned to normal and both cars speed past each other. Faye slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt, throwing both of them forward. Behind them Terminator also hit the brakes and yanked the wheel to one side, executing a perfect one hundred eighty-degree turn. Once he was facing his targets he reached for his assault gun.
"What was that for?!?" John shouted when the car had stopped.
"It's him!!" She shouted back.
"You're sure?" John asked but started to pick up the SAW. Before Faye could answer a hail of bullets shattered the windshield, making both of them duck. "Forget I asked." He said as he snapped the safety of his weapon off. The gunfire continued. "Well we found him." He joked as they were showered with glass from the shattered windshield.
"So what are you waiting for!?! Shoot that bastard!!" Both flinched as another bust of gunfire whizzed over their heads. After that there was silence.
"You got it!" John shouted as he jumped into the back seat and set his weapon. Taking aim he sprayed the drivers side with bullets and the squad car's windshield virtually disintegrated under the hail of armor piercing rounds. After he halted his burst he saw two things that made his spirit sink. For one he saw that while his aim had not been off even the armor piercing rounds failed to do any damage to the Terminator. Again only portions of the outer skin had been shot away revealing parts of the metal endoskeleton. The second thing he saw was that it was calmly reloading his gun with a very large clip. He turned back to Faye and saw she was watching the events unfold. "Drive!!" He yelled. Faye didn't need to be told twice, she put the car into high gear, pushed the gas pedal to the floor and peeled out, almost throwing John out of the car and nearly made him drop his gun.
"Hang on!!" She shouted. The warning came a little too late but John wasn't about to complain. The Terminator fired at the retreating car, the bullets tearing up the pavement as the left a trail that seemed to chase the car. As his targets began to pull away Terminator put his car into gear and began to pursue. When he got into range he again began to fire on the fleeing vehicle. In response John tried to return fire as best he could, but the turns and bumps were throwing off his aim. As they raced through the streets exchanging gunfire John noticed the cruiser was catching up. They were slowing down!!!
"What the hell are you doing!?!?" He shouted over his shoulder.
"Trust me!" Was her only reply. That was not what John wanted to hear. He was also in no condition to argue so he continued to fire at the pursuing vehicle, which added another burst of speed and fired another salvo that came dangerously close to hitting him. He fired a return burst at the cruiser's tires but after several shots the gun clicked empty. He detached the empty box magazine and brought out another.
"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!!" He yelled as he opened the top of the gun and threaded the belt through.
"If you insist." Faye replied. That was even worse then 'Trust me'. He could just hear the smirk she was wearing. Before he could give it any more thought Faye gave the car more gas and nearly threw him to the to the floor but he kept his balance and cocked the weapon. "Get ready." She warned. Even though bullets were still whizzing by he looked over his shoulder to see what she was talking about. His heart almost stopped when he saw that they were heading at high speed for the side of a building.
"Oh shit!!" He ducked down into the car to keep from falling out. He had a good idea what Faye was trying and didn't want to be splattered onto the building if she did this wrong. Before they crashed into the wall Faye spun the wheel as fast as she could, pushing the brake pedal to the floor. The car screeched to a halt parallel to the wall with no more then an inch of space to spare. Taking her foot off the brake Faye slammed onto the gas and again spun the wheel, racing head on towards the pursuing cruiser. She shot past it and Terminator tried to duplicate the move to turn around but the cruiser could not match the high performance sports car's agility. It was able to perform the ninety-degree turn but could not slow down in time and slammed into the wall sideways at over forty miles per hour. John heard the crash and felt their car jerk to a halt. He stood just in time to see the cruiser's passenger side door fly off courtesy of Terminator's foot. Taking aim he cut loose a long burst that riddled the front part of the car but Terminator continued to climb out, ignoring the hail of bullets. With calm demeanor he raised his assault gun and started to take aim despite the hail of bullet strikes that tore off chunks of his skin. John was about to tell Faye to get going when behind him he heard a loud thump. A spilt second later an explosion erupted from Terminator's chest and threw him back into the cruiser. It lay motionless; the grip of the rifle still clutched in his hand and the rest torn off from the explosion. Turning around John say Faye holding the grenade launcher, resting it on her shoulder.
"Guess mister invincible wasn't as tough as he thought he was." She said. John smiled at the remark. Going up against this thing seemed to be the best therapy for what had happened to them before.
"Guess they don't make them like they used to." He replied and Faye smiled back. Their good mood disappeared as they heard something clatter to the ground. Looking back at the wrecked cruiser they saw that Terminator had gotten up and dropped what was left of the rifle. The grenade had turned its chest into a patch of blackened metal surrounded by charred skin that still had smoke rising from it, but had done no real damage. Its clothes had several small patches on fire but it ignored them. It drew its pistol but only brought out the butt of it. Discarding the second destroyed weapon he began to walk towards John and Faye. Both leveled their weapons and opened fire. A second grenade impacted and threw the Terminator back, but he got up and started to move forward again. The torrent of bullets that stuck him sparked and ricocheted off in all directions. A third grenade knocked it into the side of the cruiser.
"Go down!! Damn you!! GO DOWN!!" Faye yelled at it as it began to stand after the last grenade hit.
[This is getting us nowhere.] John told himself as he continued to fire his own weapon, which was just as useless. A frontal assault wasn't working, they needed to think of something else. An idea struck him when he saw where the Terminator was standing in front of the cruiser. "Hit the gas tank!!" He yelled then ducked down to give Faye a clean shot. Taking careful aim Faye fired a third grenade low and to the rear of the cruiser. It exploded in a large fireball that engulfed the Terminator. "Good shooting." He said as the car continued to burn. "Think that'll be able to melt him?" His question was answered when a form completely covered in flames walked out of the inferno. As they watched the Terminator approach they saw him ripping off pieces of burning skin and tossing them aside. What scraps of skin he did not remove the fire quickly consumed, leaving the metallic endoskeleton completely exposed. It looked exactly like what they had seen in the old footage, it's metal skull with its glowing red eyes that focused on them with inhuman coldness and teeth that made it look like the machine was smiling. That permanent smile took a sinister edge as Terminator sprinted at them. Faye threw her weapon into the passenger seat and gave the car as much gas as she could. With a squeal of tires the car shot away from the pursuing Terminator. The engine began to whine in protest.
"Don't give up on me now you hunk of junk!!" She shouted she made a sharp turn to get back to the ambush area.
"You need to go faster Faye!" John told her in a nervous voice.
"We don't want to lose him!" She yelled back.
"I don't think we have to worry about that." John replied as his SAW began to bark fire again. Looking in the rearview mirror that had somehow survived she not only saw the Terminator chasing but saw it was gaining!!! They were going over fifty and Terminator was beginning to catch up, and it was doing it at what seemed like a leisurely jog. John hoped by shooting it to slow it down in some way but the effect was the same as before, sparks flew when the bullets hit home but did nothing to slow its progress. Faye shifted gears and they began to pull away. With the danger temporarily over John put down his gun and took out his radio. "Jet, Spike come in. Can either of you hear me? Over."
"Loud and clear John." Jet answered. "Did you manage to find that Terminator?" John looked back at the machine in question that was still chasing them and showed no signs of giving up or slowing down.
"You might say that." He answered.
"Good. Now lead him back here. We'll handle the rest. Just make sure you don't lose him."
"No problem." John answered and clicked the radio off. Faye shook her head.
"We probably couldn't lose this thing if we tried." She put in.
"Tell me about it." John responded. Terminator wasn't gaining any ground but they weren't pulling away from it either. "Just keep it at this speed and we should be okay." Faye didn't respond and kept on driving. When they reached the side street Faye turned down it so sharply that Terminator actually ran past the street, had to slow down and come back. In that time Faye did another ninety-degree turn and shut the car off. If this plan didn't work they'd have no chance to run. Both of them jumped behind their new barricade and took up firing positions, Faye on the hood, John on the trunk. The radio buzzed and John switched it on.
"Hold your fire until he's away from any easy escape routes." Jet's voice said. "We tip this thing off and we'll never get another chance."
"In that case you two better hide." John answered. "If I was in that thing's place I'd be suspicious right about now."
"We're way ahead of ya pal." Jet replied. At that moment Jet and Spike were lying facedown on the roofs of their respective buildings, their weapons ready. "John, when that thing is in position you fire first, that'll be the signal for the rest of us." John didn't reply and snapped off the radio. Ahead of them two glowing red orbs appeared at the entrance to the side street. They stared at them for what seemed like an eternity. They then slowly panned from side to side and then looked skyward, searching the area for any sign of danger. After it was done searching it set its sights back on them and began to walk forward. The most unnerving thing was that they could only see the black shape of the Terminator's form but they could see those eyes clear as day.
The battle had not been going well for Terminator. He had failed to eliminate his targets and had underestimated how heavily armed they were. As a result he had lost all of his camouflage and his only weapons, but with no damage. He had pursued them on foot and they had set up a defensive position on one of the minor streets. A street that, according to his maps, had no outlet. These factors lead to the logical assumption that they were planning an ambush. Before going down the street he scanned the area and the rooftops for any other hostiles. None were detected so he advanced towards his targets.
Watching the Terminator approach both John and Faye had to fight the impulse to fire right off and wait until he got within what John had to decide was the right range.
"Closer, closer." John whispered as Terminator continued forward. "NOW!" He yelled and fired. Hearing the gunfire Spike and Jet stood up and took aim. Jet fired first, aiming for the Terminator's chest. The heavy fifty caliber round hit dead center and knocked the machine onto its back. Ready to follow the move up Spike aimed one of his rockets at the downed robot and fired.
As he approached his targets one of them yelled and fired his weapon. His chest plate was then struck by a large fast moving projectile that had knocked him onto his back. Now aware of attackers his sensors had missed he rescanned the rooftops. With one eye he followed the calculated trajectory of the projectile that had knocked him down and with the other he scanned the other side. He was able to spot a second attacker that was wielding what his databanks identified as rocket launcher and was a greater threat then the first that was armed with a rifle. He also identified the rocket wielder as Spike and the one with the rifle as Jet. Focusing on Spike he calculated the all the factors in the rocket's trajectory and formulated his best course of action before Spike even pressed the trigger. When Spike did fire Terminator rolled to the side and the rocket impacted on the street, throwing chucks of concrete into the air and blasted a crater into the ground.
"Shit!!" Spike cursed as he reached for another rocket.
"How the hell did he do that?" Jet said as he lined up another shot. When the Terminator stood Jet put the crosshairs on the thing's 'temple' and squeezed the trigger. The shot was dead on and Terminator's head snapped to the side. After the briefest of pauses it righted its head and began walking towards Faye and John at a steady, unpanicked pace. In response they began firing their own weapons but had less effect then even Jet was having.
Terminator's first analysis had proved correct, he had been lured into an ambush. Under normal circumstances he would fall back and regroup, but here falling back was not an option. In addition the weapons they were armed with were insufficient to penetrate his chassis and as long as he was careful to avoid being hit directly by the rockets he would be able to terminate all his targets. Spike was again aiming a rocket in his direction and he stopped and faced that direction. The move was unexpected and the others actually stopped firing. As Spike shifted his aim Terminator shifted his posture, readying to throw himself out of the way when Spike did fire. Spike noticed the shift in posture and was able to figure it out immediately what it was doing.
"I need a distraction here!!" Spike yelled at the top of his lungs, no wanting to spoil his aim by reaching for the radio. Terminator heard him but before he could do anything about the others all opened fire at once. The impacts from the grenades and the sniper rifle caused the Terminator to jerk in reaction and the movement gave Spike a clear shot at the thing's chest. "Bang." He said at normal volume as he pressed the firing button. The rocket was on target and struck Terminator, who disappeared in the explosion that completely engulfed it.
"TAKE THAT YOU METAL SON OF A BITCH!!!" John yelled over the roar of the explosion. Faye didn't say anything but grinned wickedly at the column of smoke that rose into the night sky.
"Good job, all of you." Jet said over the radio. "After the fire dies down we'll see if there's anything to salvage."
"Roger that." John responded. He looked over at Faye. "We did it." He said to her, not sounding like he believed himself. "We actually did it." He let out a short laugh. It did sound almost too good to be true.
"Yeah." She finally responded, sounding more relaxed then she had been all night. "That wasn't too hard now was it?" She joked.
"Oh yeah, a real walk in the park." John responded, but smiled.
"I wouldn't get very relaxed if I were you two." Jet radioed. "This isn't over yet. We still need to pay Cyberdyne a visit." Faye and John grew quiet, knowing he was right. Up on the other roof Spike remained silent and lit a cigarette. This fight may be over but Jet was right, they had unfinished business. He was considering how to deal with Cyberdyne when….
"The HELL!?!?!" He heard John shout over the radio and from the street below, giving it a weird echo effect. Looking down he saw something that made his jaw drop and the cigarette fall to the ground. The Terminator was slowly walking out of the quickly clearing smoke cloud. Smoke still rose from his chest and Spike could see a large blackened dent but no evidence of penetration.
"Faye!! John!! Get the hell out of there!! We'll try to hold it off."
"No!" Faye responded.
"WHAT!?!?" John, Spike and Jet yelled at the same time.
"I'm not running!! It's him or us!!" She checked her weapon and saw she had five grenades left. She looked over at John, who after a moment nodded and loaded the last magazine he had.
"She's right." He told the others. "Running is useless. We'll settle this right now." He cocked the weapon and took aim.
"Thanks." Faye told him. She was trying to sound calm but she was holding the grips of her weapon so tightly that her knuckles had turned bone white. Both began to fire, Faye taking carefully aimed shots while John held the trigger firing one constant stream of bullets.
"Damn fools!" Jet said but aimed his rifle. The Terminator was still moving slowly. They must have done some kind of damage to its internal systems. Faye and John's barrage slowed it further but it wouldn't be long before it reached them. He fired round after round but while they caused the Terminator to stumble it didn't stop. As he emptied the last of his clips frustration began to mount. [This thing has to have a weak point somewhere. But were the hell is it?!] As the thing moved it made a slight whirring sound and that gave Jet an idea. Putting the crosshairs on one of the thing's elbows he took careful aim and fired. The bullet tore through the thinner metal of the joint and ripped the entire lower arm off. That the Terminator noticed, looking up at Jet with what he could swear was an angry look in his eyes. They had finally found the chink in his armor. "Spike!" He yelled into the radio. "Aim for the joints. That's the only way you can hurt this thing!!"
"Gotcha." Spike responded. He had just the joint in mind. He aimed his second to last rocket at the connection at the base of the thing's spine and hips. He fired and again his aim was dead on. The explosion threw the top part of its body straight up and Spike swore he saw the thing turn its head in his direction, locking eyes with him before falling back to the ground. When it landed it used its one good arm to drag itself towards Faye and John.
"Doesn't this thing ever give up?!" Faye asked as she fired her last grenade that missed and exploded behind what was left of the Terminator. The shattered robot paid the explosion no mind and continued to drag itself forward.
"You two better duck." Spike said over the radio. They looked up and saw Spike aiming his final rocket and did as they were told.
"Last chance Spike." Jet told him. "Make it count." Spike didn't respond and continued aiming. When he was sure he couldn't miss he let the final rocket fly. The rocket struck the downed robot that again disappeared in the explosion. Behind the car Faye and John covered their heads as the ground shook and the heat from the explosion reached them. They heard things striking the car then heard one loud clang.
"You guys can come out now." Spike told them in a calm voice. "It's not moving." Cautiously they looked over the car and saw another column of smoke.
"You sure it's dead?" John asked, remembering what had happened last time.
"Look at the door and see for yourself." Spike answered. Confused both looked down at the door and jumped back when they saw what was there. Almost bursting out of the door was a perfect impression of the Terminator's skull, its mouth open making it look like it was screaming. When Spike had fired the last rocket he aimed for the Terminator's neck. The resulting explosion had sent the skull hurtling through the first door and into the second, stamping out a perfect likeness in it but not going through. Spike and Jet climbed down and joined the others.
"So what do we do with it?" Faye asked.
"We take it back to Ed. See if she can pick this thing's brain." Jet answered.
"I'll get it." John said. Picking up the SAW he struck the skull impression with the butt of the weapon. Looking in the car he found the skull still wedged in tight. "This might take a minute." The sound of sirens told them that it was a minute they didn't have.
"Give me that!" Faye said, grabbing the SAW from John. She struck the skull as hard as she could and it popped right out. "Thanks." She said, tossing the weapon back to him. John looked dumbfounded and Jet and Spike smirked at the expression. The skull landed on the driver's seat and seemed to look up at them. Its eyes were dark and it wasn't moving. When nobody made a move to grab it Jet scowled.
"Guess I'll have to carry it." He said. He reached down and picked it up with his artificial hand, just in case it decided to snap at him. "Let's go." He said and the four of them disappeared into the night as the sirens grew closer. They had part of the puzzle now, but they still wouldn't know the whole truth until they went to the source of this robotic nightmare. Cyberdyne itself.