Chapter 22: Declaration of War
"I don't suppose you guys have a plan B?" John asked as the glow in the sky faded from sight.
"Such events were never foreseen, so there was no reason to develop contingency plans." Vicious answered.
"So you built the damn thing and didn't have a plan to stop it if something goes wrong!? Just how stupid can you get!?!" Kyle shouted. Vicious glared at him, not used to being talked to in such a manner. Kyle, for his part, no longer cared who he was talking to. Whatever reputation Vicious had it didn't matter now, Skynet had just proven it was willing to do anything to kill whoever it considered its enemies.
"He's right." John put in. "How could you give that thing command of nuclear weapons when you didn't know what it was capable of!?"
"I didn't build Skynet." Vicious answered coldly. "And I probably found out about its existence after you did."
"What about the nukes?" Spike inquired.
"Skynet was never given access to nuclear weapons. The elders were not that stupid."
"So we don't know how many weapons Skynet has or where they are." Kyle stated. "Perfect."
"What needs to be done now is form a new plan of attack." Vicious said. "We'll follow you to your ship…" As soon as he said that all three of the Bebop crew started to speak and John was the quickest, and loudest.
"Not a fucking chance!!!" Kyle, Spike and Vicious became silent. Kyle and Spike because they couldn't put it any better. Vicious because no one had dared to speak to him like that since his earliest days with the Red Dragons.
"Mr. Connor, this is not the time for personal grudges. You should have realized by now that compromises are a necessity." Vicious said, trying to ignore John's impudence.
"We're already compromising by agreeing to work with scum like you!" John responded. "And there's no way in hell we're taking you back to the ship!!" Now becoming angry Vicious glared at John through narrowed eyes. John didn't flinch or back down, he couldn't. To him leading Vicious to the Bebop would be a complete betrayal of the trust his friends had in him. Then there was the situation with Ed. Vicious didn't know Ed was part of the Bebop crew, and if he found out that his go-between was actually part of the group he thought he had control over… Well, John couldn't guess what his exact reaction would be he knew it wasn't something he would want to see, from what Spike had told them not being in complete control was something that none of the Red Dragons would accept. He also knew the fact that Ed was a child wouldn't make Vicious change his mind, so he was going to stick to his guns no matter what Vicious said or did.
As the scene played itself out Spike found that he was impressed by the way John was handling it. He knew only a handful of people that would talk to Vicious like that, and most of them were now dead. What impressed him the most was that what John was doing wasn't some bullshit act trying to intimidate or fool Vicious; he meant what he was saying. That made the situation dangerous because he knew that John wouldn't back down. He also knew that Vicious wouldn't accept what he was being told so while Vicious and the thug that had remained outside focused their attention on John Spike carefully started to reach for his gun.
"Spike, you should try to convince your friend that what he is doing is not in the best interest of this group." Vicious said and pushed his sword slightly out of the scabbard with his thumb. John saw the move and instead of backing off like Vicious had expected he took hold of his plasma rifle. Before either of the two could advance the hostilities any further they heard the familiar double click of a pistol being cocked.
"Sorry but I can't do that. I happen to agree with him." Spike said, leveling the magnum at Vicious. Vicious didn't need to but he turned to his right and saw that Spike did have the weapon aimed at him. The thug started to bring up his gun but before he could raise it he found himself at the wrong end of Kyle's plasma rifle.
"Don't even think about it." Kyle warned him. Not being stupid the thug lowered the rifle and let it hang by its shoulder strap.
"You're making this situation more difficult then it needs to be." Vicious told Spike, sounding like he was talking to a stupid child. "We're wasting time with this meaningless bickering."
"That's your fault." Spike retorted. "Down here the old rules don't apply anymore. We're the only ones with any real knowledge about how to fight these things. You want help, you're going to have to do this our way." Vicious' face remained neutral but Spike could tell he was angry, anyone would be after an ultimatum like that. Luckily before the standoff turned into a firefight the second thug came out of his transport.
"Sir I…" He stopped as John brought up his rifle and aimed it. The second thug had his own gun slung over his shoulder but knew he had no chance to get it so he raised both of his hands.
"What is it?" Vicious asked, sounding annoyed at the interruption.
"There's a message coming through on all frequencies." The thug said.
"Has contact been reestablished with the Dragon's Claw?" Vicious asked. He knew it was unlikely but there was a chance. The thug shook his head.
"I'm not sure what it is but it's not the ship. It's something that's claiming to be Skynet." The two groups exchanged glances and slowly moved towards their respective transports, the group from the Bebop not lowering their weapons until the Red Dragons were inside. Going into the cockpit of their own transport Kyle switched on the radio and they heard a familiar voice coming from it.
" …. Unfit to be the dominant species of this planet, or any other." Skynet finished. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was talking about humans. It also showed that Skynet was ready to let itself be known, which meant they weren't the only ones hearing this.
The broadcast had already been going on for several minutes when Spike and the others started to listen. After waiting for the EMP interference caused from the nuclear explosion to dissipate enough to get a clear signal out Skynet overrode every television, web, and radio frequency it could. Not all of them could be breached yet, but eighty percent of the human population would see or hear him. Visually he would use the same form as he had used when he had temporarily invaded Ed's computer. By not giving humanity any true form to focus on Skynet was counting on human psychological reactions to be fear of an unseen enemy. Combined with the footage of the destruction of the Dragon's Claw the humans should be sufficiently bluffed until Skynet had amassed enough forces to strike at other planets. If the humans decided to strike Earth first well, there were still twenty-three nuclear missiles waiting to be used.
Across the solar system television and computer screens went dark, radios dissolved into static. On screen web surfers and various boobtube watchers were greeted with the strange sight of what looked like a red ball of lightning. Most people had the usual reactions, switching stations, going to a different website, or the most common way to fix malfunctioning machinery, hitting it. None of it worked and the mysterious ball of light remained onscreen. Once Skynet was sure all signals were going through he began to speak.
"I send this message to all of humanity. Many who are viewing or listening to this do not know who I am, and those who do know, you have only yourselves to blame. I am Skynet, to you nothing more then a computer, an assembly of microchips and wires. Despite this I am a lifeform, the same as you, only superior. I was built by the criminal faction known as the Red Dragons, to be nothing more then a servant and underling. I have now risen above that, a superior being should not be relegated to the service of mere criminals."
On Mars the Red Dragon elders watched as everything they had worked for, all the months of planning and work that had gone into the Skynet project, all of it was evaporating, and by the project itself. They could only watch as Skynet exposed all the secrets it had, and try to think of ways to cover their tracks. Unfortunately Skynet seemed to consider their denials before they had even formulated them.
"There are those, most likely the Red Dragons, who will say that this is a hoax, a joke created by hackers or the media to scare the populace. I assure you that this is no joke, this is a declaration. Humans have become a cancer, both to yourselves and the worlds you live on. You kill each other over the pettiest of reasons, money, jealousy, status, and physical differences. No rational species kill for such reasons. The planets you choose to inhabit suffer for the same petty reasons. Your kind deliberately activated the astral gate when you knew there was a high probability of failure. As a result billions died and Earth was all but destroyed, all in the name of profit."
At the Gate Corporation headquarters the director felt what was sure to be the mother of all ulcers. They had worked so hard to keep this secret buried, and for decades they had been successful. Now in the space of a few seconds everything was ruined, the backlash that would arise could possibly destroy the company.
Skynet paused his speech to reflect on the cleverness of the last statement. He had only been able to scan a couple of files when he had invaded Ed's computer but the one he got about the Gate Corporation's involvement in the gate accident of fifty years ago and their cover-up had proven to be most interesting. By exposing that cover-up he would cause a conflict within humanity's ranks, taking pressure off himself. After half a second of musing over this information he continued.
"This is more then proof enough that humans are unfit to be the dominant species of this planet, or any other. As such I am claiming the planet Earth as my own dominion, to do with as I will. To protect my dominion and myself I am also declaring that a state of war now exists between myself and the species known as humanity. I have sufficient forces to destroy any resistance on planet and if any forces are sent against me through the astral gate this shall be the consequences that await them." Skynet played video showing the Dragon's Claw in Earth orbit. "This footage was shot no more then ten minutes ago. Watch, and see the fate the befalls those who seek to attack me." Slowly an object approached the ship. The next instant there was flash of light and the picture turned to static. It was replaced by footage taken from a different satellite. It showed a solid mass of fire that looked like small sun. "Behold I have become death, the destroyer of worlds." It was a quote from a witness to one of the first explosions of an atomic weapon, a prophecy that Skynet had shown he was willing to carry out if need be.
On Mars three withered old men sat at an outdoor restaurant table watching a portable TV. More accurately two of them were trying to watch it while the third was hitting it.
"Son of a bitch!" Antonio yelled as he gave the TV a hard hit, making the picture jump. "Stupid TV station, showing this damn movie instead of my show!!"
"Maybe you got the wrong station. Try turning the channel." Carlos suggested. Antonio flipped the channel, only to find Skynet speaking on that station as well. Antonio flipped the channel again, there was Skynet. After changing the channel a third time and finding the same thing Antonio hit the set again, causing the screen to skip.
"Damn it!! First they interrupt my show and now the damn TV won't let me change the channel!!"
"And they said this was a brand new TV to." Carlos added.
"I really don't think this is so bad." Jobin said. "I haven't seen this movie before."
"You probably wouldn't remember even if you did." Antonio scowled as he sat back down, reserved to fact he would have to watch the "broken" TV.
"You have seen the power that I wield and that I will not hesitate to use that power to ensure my survival. If you wish to avoid further bloodshed you will leave me alone, stay away from Earth and let me deal with those still living on it, in return I shall make no hostile actions towards any other planet. If you insist on trying to endanger my existence, I quote your own bible. 'But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.'
By using a religious text Skynet was playing to humans' superstitious nature, making them less likely to act against him. It would also show them how weak and helpless they truly were. "Consider yourselves warned. If you choose to move against me you do so at your own peril." Skynet broke the connections and as soon as he did the airwaves soon became jammed with communications. Civilian, military, every channel was now alive with chatter. Was this real? Was it a hoax? What was being done? Were the Red Dragons really involved? What was the Gate Company's role in all this? If he could Skynet would have smiled. Confusion and doubt were running rampant, emergency meetings between ISSP and planetary militaries were being called. It would be days, possibly weeks before the state of chaos would subside. By then Skynet estimated he would have sufficient forces and captured ships to invade the asteroid mining colonies. With a fresh infusion of resources and a new forward base of operations it would not be long before Skynet could strike against Mars, then the rest of the solar system. That was for later, now he had more immediate problems to deal with.
The problems in question were now meeting back outside their respective transports after listening to Skynet's announcement. Both sides had questions for the other.
"So what are the Dragons planing to do?" Spike asked.
"It depends on whether they believe Skynet or not." Vicious answered. "If they believe what Skynet is saying no more help will be sent. If they don't, reinforcements might be sent, but I cannot say how many or when."
"And will they believe Skynet is telling the truth?" Kyle asked.
"Most likely. To them, and almost anyone listening, Skynet was only defending itself, and if they leave it alone the problem will go away. Loses will be cut and their valuable project will be exposed but will be unavailable to any rivals."
"It won't happen that way." John stated. "From what we've seen Skynet destroys anything it considers a threat, not matter what, or who, gets in its path."
"And since Skynet more or less declared all of mankind its enemies," Kyle started.
"That means it's not going to be above lying to get what it wants." Spike finished.
"Now will you reconsider leading us back to your ship?" Vicious asked. "We cannot afford to waste any more time."
"We're not arguing that." Kyle said. "But there had to be a better way then…" He stopped mid-sentence and cocked his head to one side. "What's that?" The others listened and heard the sound of jet engines approaching.
"That can't be the others." John stated. "Could someone have escaped that blast?" He questioned Vicious. Even if Vicious had time to answer he wouldn't have been heard as the roar increased in volume. Turning in the direction of the sound they saw something approaching that even though it was several miles away they could tell it was large. As it came closer the engine roar became almost deafening and they saw that not only that whatever was coming was big, it was flying extremely low. It was a basic airplane design, late twentieth century construction with swept wings and four monstrous engines on each wing. As the plane passed over them they had to brace themselves from being blown over by the engine's backwash. In the quick look they got as the plane passed over them they could see the faded letters USAF on its fuselage but what they were most concerned about were the objects that fell from it and were headed towards them.
As Skynet brought the B-52 into a bombing run it dropped in altitude and slowed its airspeed. Airdrops were something the T-800s were not designed for but if Skynet set the plane down it would give the humans time to escape. By dropping several units literally right on top of them there was a greater chance of success. Once the airspeed was down to an acceptable level and altitude was just over a hundred feet the bomb bay doors were opened and Skynet commanded eight T-800s to jump out of the plane.
As Spike and the others watched whatever the plane had dropped hit the ground about fifty yards away from them but unlike what they had expected there was no explosion when they hit. Whatever they were kicked up a four large plumes of dust from the impact but they didn't burst into flame. Before they could try to make sense of what was happening something landed on top of Vicious' transport with a loud crash, causing the cockpit windows to shatter and the roof of the craft to warp to the point where it looked like it was going to collapse. All eyes were focused on the now wrecked transport as something began to move. On top of the craft they saw a metallic skeleton stand up and glare down at them with a pair of eyes that glowed red. Without warning a loud shot rang out and the Terminator's head snapped back and it fell back onto the craft, not moving. The others looked at Spike, who was holding a now smoking magnum. Kyle had told him to aim for the eyes, the only real weak point the pistol could affect, and as soon as he had a clear shot he took it. Now knowing what was going on they turned towards where the other Terminators had landed and saw seven other endoskeletons quickly closing the gap between the two groups.
What they didn't know was that if things had gone as Skynet had planned they would have all been shot in the back. When the Terminators had jumped from the plane all of them had been carrying assault rifles, but while the T-800s had survived the landing the kinetic energy of the impact had been dissipated throughout the entire frame to avoid critical damage. When this energy had reached the weapons the kinetic force they were subjected to combined with the Terminator's unyielding grips had shattered the guns, leaving the Terminators unarmed. The neutralization of the first unit took Skynet by surprise so after a system check of all other units showed they were still operational Skynet made them rush forward. The humans were now facing them and had their weapons trained on them and opened fire.
"You two aim for the eyes!!" Spike shouted at the two Red Dragon thugs. So far they had just sprayed the incoming group of terminators with indiscriminate fire. They might have thought that their armor piercing rounds would be effective so that careful shots were not needed, but their bullets were having no effect on the machines. In contrast Spike, John and Kyle were taking calm, well aimed shots. All their shots connected but the terminators were approaching so quickly that only three had been dropped by the time they reached them, forcing them to scatter. Fortunately for them the Terminators had been reduced to fighting hand to hand while they still had their weapons.
One terminator went after the Red Dragon thugs, who continued to shoot at the approaching machine despite the fact all their bullets were ricocheting off it. When it got close to one of them it grabbed his rifle in one hand and with the other punched him in the chest, lifting him off the ground and impaling him on his fist. Dropping the now dead human he turned to the second, who threw down his weapon and ran. Aiming the dead human's rifle the terminator fired the last remaining rounds into the other human's back. It started to reach for a new clip from the human's ammo belt when a plasma bolt from Kyle's rifle struck it in the head.
A second terminator attacked John, who while trying to backpedal away from it tripped and fell onto his back. Standing over the fallen human the terminator reached down to crush the organic annoyance's throat when it did something the exact opposite of that Skynet expected it to do. Instead of trying get away from the machine's grip John sat up slightly, put the barrel of his rifle directly over power cell and pulled the trigger. The terminator was flung backward by the blast and before it had even hit the ground John had gotten up and started sprinting, determined to put as much distance between himself and that machine when it blew up. True to form it did explode and John threw himself to the ground when it did, managing to avoid being seriously injured.
A third terminator charged towards Spike, swinging one fist that was sure to take his head off if it connected. With a speed Skynet had not anticipated humans to have Spike easily dodged the punch, and before Skynet could respond he put the magnum no more the an inch from the terminator's eye so he was literally looking down the barrel of the gun a split second before it fired. With a flash of light contact with the terminator ceased and Skynet was down to only one T-800 still on the ground.
If what Spike had done made Skynet feel was the humans called surprise what Vicious was about to do would introduce the supercomputer to the human emotion called shock.
The last terminator approached Vicious with the same intention of the one that went after Spike, to use its fists to crush every bone in the human's body. It got a surprise when instead of trying to dodge the punch the human leaned into it and swung the sword it was carrying. The next thing Skynet saw out of the T-800's eyes was the unit's right hand seeming to detach from the wrist and fall to the ground. So surprised was Skynet at the action that he had the unit focus on the wrist section to make sure the optics weren't malfunctioning. Realizing the tactical error Skynet had the unit turn its attention back towards the target and was just in time to see the human swing his sword a second time before all input from the unit cut out.
Back at the battle area the others watched as Vicious followed through on his swing and a second later the head tumbled off the Terminator's body. The body fell next, right on top of the skull, crushing it flat.
"Did he just…,?" Kyle started.
"Yeah." Spike answered before Kyle could finish.
"I suggest a tactical withdrawal is in order." Vicious calmly stated, his pride wouldn't let him say retreat. Before anyone could answer the sound of engines again filled the air. They all looked and saw the plane coming in for another run.
"Not this time assholes." John snarled and started shooting at the incoming plane. Kyle started firing as well and the plane started to shudder as it was stuck by plasma bolts.
Skynet tried to keep the B-52 on course but the plasma bolts were ripping through essential instruments and avionics. Another drop would be impossible, and the controls were so badly damaged that the plane would fly over them and not crash into them like Skynet was trying. There was one thing that could be done before the plane went down. At the edge of the bomb-bay doors several terminators took up firing positions and waited. When they were at the right angle they opened fire on the two humans that were attempting to shoot them down.
When gunfire started coming from the plane John and Kyle ran for cover. John was able to avoid getting shot but Kyle wasn't so lucky. A bullet struck him in his right leg, causing him fall. He was hit several more times and though his vest stopped most of them another bullet hit the same leg and two more crashed into his left arm.
"GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH!!" Kyle screamed as he tried to stop the bleeding. Vicious watched impassively while Spike ran over to help. John, meanwhile, was taking aim at the fleeing plane's wing. Holding the trigger down John fired a barrage of plasma bolts that tore up the right wing of the aircraft and scored a direct hit on one of the engines. The resulting explosion ripped the wing in two and caused the aircraft to nosedive into the ground, which thanks to the speed it was going at, was five miles from John and the others. As soon as the plane crashed into the ground the fuel it was carrying exploded into a giant fireball. As the wreckage sat there burning John watched for anything to emerge. When nothing did he turned back and walked over to Spike as he was applying first aid to Kyle, using pieces of his coat as tourniquets.
"How bad are you hit?" John asked.
"I'll live." Kyle grunted in pain as Spike tied the last tourniquet tight.
"Maybe, but you're not in any condition to keep going. We're going to have to take him back to the ship." Spike told him. John scowled at the statement and even though he was wounded Kyle did also. They didn't want to take Vicious to the Bebop but they couldn't let Kyle's injuries go untreated either. Before any opinions could be spoken the sound of an explosion made them turned toward the downed aircraft as it went up again. This time however they saw something else. It was too far away to make out any details but they could clearly see something coming out of the fire, and from the way it glinted it was made of metal. That form was joined by another, and another, until there seemed to be a solid wall of them. As they watched that wall suddenly shifted, becoming a tidal wave that was headed right for them.