Chapter 23: Reactions
There were two choices the group could have chosen as what appeared to be a small army of Terminators rushed towards them. One was for all of them to take the captured transport and use its preprogrammed autopilot to return to Bebop. That was the last thing Spike, Kyle or John wanted to do. Taking Vicious to the Bebop was a last ditch, no options left choice. Knowing that, John had begun to brainstorm what else could be done almost the second he had seen the first Terminator emerge from the wreckage. Glancing over at the Red Dragon's transport John had an idea.
"Think that thing will still fly?" He asked Spike, motioning to the damaged craft.
"It should." Spike answered. To him the damage looked worse then what it really was. The engines had been spared the brunt of the impact and other then the destroyed windows the cockpit seemed to be intact. It wouldn't be the smoothest flight but in Spike's opinion they could get it off the ground. "We probably won't make it back to the ship though."
"We're not going back to the ship." John answered as he helped Kyle up. "Only Kyle's going back, the rest of us are going to be a decoy. We can't lead them back to the ship and if we take him with us he'll bleed to death." He said as he led Kyle into the craft, faster then he should have but they only had a few minutes at most. Kyle started to protest but the shock caused by his injures and the blood he had lost made his speech grabbled and his muscles sluggish.
"Then let him." Vicious stated, starting to become impatient. Their insistence that he not be allowed on the ship was starting to border on lunacy. He started to follow John when Spike stepped in his way, again training the magnum on him.
"We don't abandon one of our own." Spike almost snarled. The only response Vicious gave was to narrow his eyes, not believing the apparent stupidity he saw.
Inside the cockpit John strapped Kyle into the pilot's seat the activated the automatic startup. The course they had taken here had been recorded by the craft's guidance system so it was a simple task to program it to re-fly that same course and land on the Bebop. In the back of his mind John knew that if Skynet had tracked them out here there was a good chance they could track them to the ship. By going back they would be endangering the others but by doing nothing they would be putting them in just as much danger by not letting them know what was going on. And with the asteroids still causing radio interference the only way they could warn them was to send someone back. John made sure Kyle understood that and once he had convinced him Kyle had stopped protesting being taken out of the game. After making sure the ramp would remain open John started the crafts engines and as it started to rise off the ground ran back and jumped out.
"You're sure about this?" Spike asked. In truth he really wasn't that crazy about this idea but he wasn't able to think of any alternatives other then to give Vicious what he wanted, transport to the ship.
"As sure as I'll ever be." John answered, picking up Kyle's discarded plasma rifle. "Now lets get the hell out of here!" He said, sprinting towards the other transport. The uneven and crater dotted ground had slowed the onrushing Terminators down but now they were closing in on them. Spike and Vicious followed him into the craft and they found that, except for the large indentation in ceiling of the back, there was no significant damage on the inside. John sat down in the pilot's seat, Spike in the copilot's. Vicious remained in the back, watching as the Terminators drew nearer. Now close enough so that you could almost see their permanent grins. Starting the engines up they noticed their first problem when instead of the usual growl that accompanied an engine startup there was a loud whining noise. The craft rose into the air, slower then it should have. That sluggishness allowed the lead Terminator to jump and grab hold of the ramp, which John hadn't closed because he was desperately trying to get the craft airborne. Other Terminators tried to jump and grab hold of the craft but fortunately John had gotten them beyond the range of the Terminator's leaps. The one that did make it pulled itself up and into the craft, finding the white haired human blocking its path. Remembering what this particular human was cable of with that sword Skynet focused on protecting the neck region. The human waited patiently as the T-800 pulled itself up completely then dashed forward with warning.
Instead of swinging for the head like the last time Vicious thrust his sword like a spear. It tried to react to the move but Vicious had already plunged the sword into the machine's chest, right through the power cell and out the back. Vicious released the handle and stepped back as energy began to arc from the ruptured cell. As the cell 'bled out' the Terminator's red eyes dimmed and its movement slowed then stopped. When the outpour of energy stopped Vicious walked over to the dead machine, yanked his sword out, and kicked the thing's chest, sending it out the back of the craft and crashing to the ground, where it shattered on impact. Walking into the cockpit he saw that they were following the transport Kyle was in, and that it was slowly pulling away from them. Under normal circumstances he would have just killed John and kept on following the first transport. However Spike already had his handgun in a position to shoot Vicious if he tried anything funny. In addition he could tell from the sound of engines and slight wobble the craft had that they wouldn't be able to keep pace anyway.
"You have a destination in mind?" Vicious asked. So far John seemed to be making this up as he went along with no real plan of action.
"According to the radio traffic we were able to pick up on out way down here ISSP is investigating strange reports from a town that we've been to before." He glanced at Spike "Well, that I've been to before anyway. It was attacked by Skynet twice and I guess they decided it was important enough to send someone."
"And you expect them to help us?" Vicious asked.
"With all the weird shit that's happened so far our story might seem downright sane." Spike said.
"If they are still there when we arrive." Vicious pointed out. John said nothing and shifted course so now they were going northeast and not following Kyle.
Cheyenne Mountain Command Center
Skynet was watching the events unfold from two different views. One was through the eyes of the Terminators that were perusing the craft from the ground and from the satellites he had taken over. It seemed strange that they would use two separate craft for such an escape when one would have been sufficient. The only conclusion Skynet could arrive at was that one of the ships was a decoy. By analyzing the satellite footage he saw that the one human that had been put into the undamaged craft was Kyle Reese, the one that had been wounded. That alone was able to tell Skynet who the decoy was. No rational human would send someone as badly wounded as Reese was off alone and expect them to survive without medical attention. Though humans could be ruthless when they choose to be Skynet doubted that this particular group would resort to such matters, no matter how hopeless their situation seemed. Skynet calculated a ninety-five percent chance that they were attempting to send Kyle back to their main base of operations, the Bebop, to have his wounds treated. With a chance to wipe out the rest of the immediate human threat Skynet began sending commands. First he had several of the Terminator force perusing the damaged human craft break off and start to follow the other one. It was unlikely that they would be able to catch it on foot; it was flying too fast for them to keep it in visual range for very long. To that end he would observe the flight from orbit and guide the Terminators along the same path the human took. Second, a squad of eight HKs was prepared for flight to run an intercept course. Four of them would carry four Terminators each in case the ground force could not get there fast enough, while the rest would be fighter escort. Finally on the NEW YORK Skynet had a second nuclear missile readied. If Skynet didn't have such a limited supply of these weapons it would have used one straight out but because of their small numbers it was limited to a last ditch weapon. With the plans set in motion all that was left to do was follow the craft until it reached its destination.
Government Bunker: Mars: That same time
"I'm sure I don't need to tell you why this meeting has been called." The president of Mars addressed the gathered assembly. In a reinforced bunker several hundred feet under the surface of Mars the most powerful and influential people on the planet had been assembled. Government officials, military commanders, and high-ranking members of ISSP had all been gathered and were now seated at a round table. In addition there were representatives of the Gate Corporation and all the major syndicates, though most attention was focused on the man representing the Red Dragons. "The message that was broadcast earlier from something claiming to be Skynet has been authenticated. Reports from ISSP patrols confirm a nuclear explosion in low Earth orbit. We now know that this is not a hoax. What we need to decide here is if this Skynet is truly a threat and if it is, what should be done about it. Second, we need to know how this could have happened." All eyes went to the Red Dragon representative, a short, skinny man in an expensive suit who, like most members of a powerful group, acted with an air of superiority.
"As stated in the report I presented to this group earlier my clients do not deny that they provided funds and materials for this project, in the name of scientific advancement. As reported the capabilities of Skynet are indeed vast and though self awareness was a possibility it was never intended to advance that far." The elders had decided that denial was no longer an option so it was time to rearrange the facts.
"So you're saying that not only do you believe that this computer is thinking and acting on its own, independent of human commands, but that you knew that it could happen?" A military general questioned. The Red Dragon representative nodded.
"Yes. Numerous safety measures were taken to ensure that something like this was to never happen."
"And apparently these measures all failed." The president of Mars said with an accusing tone.
"Not failed." The Red Dragon representative responded. "Deactivated."
"What do you mean deactivated?" The president asked.
"We can't be totally sure but we believe that one of the scientists, a Doctor Stone, working on the project had suffered some sort of mental breakdown and was able to hide it from everyone else. One of his colleagues managed to get word to us that something was wrong so we sent one of our ships to investigate. The rest you already know."
"So it's one man, not the machine itself, that's controlling everything?" The general asked.
"No, it's Skynet that is in command." He took several photographs out of a briefcase he had and passed them along to the others. One he took and slid across the table to the president. "These pictures were sent to us after the nuclear attack on our ship. They're real and as you can see the time shows they were taken about an hour before the attack. The one you have, Mr. President, is of Doctor Stone. It appears he lost control and it just escalated from there." The president scrutinized the picture for several seconds. Convinced it was real he set it down and addressed the Red Dragon representative again.
"And what about the nuclear weapon? There are supposed to be none left on Earth, and yet he got one, maybe more, without you knowing how. It sounds very suspicious that you would have no knowledge of that." The Red Dragon representative cleared his throat before speaking again.
"As stated in the report we suspect that Doctor Stone had help from outside our organization. We don't know how they were recruited or why but we believe that they were responsible for, among other things, supplying the atomic weapons and engaging in what would amount to terrorist activities against both out our organization and those who got too close to the truth. I give you the destruction of the Cyberdyne building as proof that …."
"BULLSHIT!!" Someone shouted, making the representative jump a little. Everyone turned and saw a tall man in an ISSP uniform was now standing up pointing at the Red Dragon representative. "The only thing that proves is that a building was blown up! For all you know it was done to stop Stone from succeeding!!" The Red Dragon representative regarded the officer like a teacher would a student that just interrupted his lecture. When he realized who had interrupted him he gave the officer an arrogant smile.
"I beg to differ Detective Connor. The evidence we have gathered clearly shows that…"
"Don't you tell me about gathering evidence you pencil pushing piece of shit!!" Robert Connor shouted. "I've had to gather evidence for hundreds of cases and if I did the half-assed job like this…" He picked up his copy of the report. "I'd be fired on the spot."
"That report is the culmination of all the facts we had." The Red Dragon representative responded, now sounding annoyed. Robert snorted when he said the word facts.
"I can find quite a few holes in these so called 'facts' of yours…" Robert started.
"Not the least of which is that your nephew is involved." The Red Dragon representative interrupted. There were several major discrepancies in the report that could be found if examined closely enough, fortunately the most important people at this meeting were under the Red Dragon's influence one way or another and were in a position to ignore it. All except for this cop, but by bringing up the fact that he had a family member involved the hope was to show bias toward one side, rendering his argument dead. It worked and the president spoke.
"Detective Connor. I can understand your reluctance to admit your nephew's role in this, and why you would want to exonerate him. However, we cannot let personal feelings cloud our judgement of the situation. We called you here because you are one of the most senior and respected members of this branch of ISSP, and knowing your relationship to one of the suspects involved. We had hoped that it wasn't going to be a factor, but if it is …" He let the sentence hang, waiting for Robert's reply. Robert personally didn't think that the president was a Red Dragon flunky but most of the people who were giving him information were. Now that his loyalty had been called into question in such a serious situation the Red Dragon representative had taken him out of the loop with only one sentence.
"I have nothing else to say." He said through clenched teeth and sat back down. He glared at the Red Dragon representative, who now had a shark like grin.
"I would like to move on to a more pressing matter at hand." The president said. "We've seen what Skynet can do. What we need to decided is whether it is a threat to us or not, and what is to be done about it. General?"
"After analyzing recordings of the nuclear blast we've determined that it was from a missile launched from the surface, not from a satellite or another ship. We were unable to trace where on Earth it came from but we can safely state that such a missile's rang is limited, in astrological terms. We've determined that even using the most drastic limits on fuel consumption at most one of those missiles would only have enough fuel to reach what's left of the moon. Anything beyond the perimeter of lunar orbit should be safe. So long as it doesn't get to the gate, we'll be able to see anything coming." The president nodded and turned to the Red Dragon representative.
"And what of future actions Skynet may take?"
"Current estimates have Skynet acting on a basic level of human intelligence. It's driven by the basic drive of most animals, to survive. By claiming territory it is doing that and setting up a barrier of sorts. If we can convince it that the area it has chosen for itself is a safe place devoid of threats it should react like a rational person and not try to leave its territory. Based on this data I motion that Earth be quarantined. All essential personal will evacuate the planet and its astral gates will be shut down."
"Seconded." The general said.
"This is insanity!" Robert shouted. "We just can't abandon Earth. All the people…"
"Will be acceptable losses." The general interrupted. "When weighed against the rest of the solar system one planet that is almost uninhabitable is a small price to pay."
"So you intend to just throw those people away like garbage?! To let Skynet do whatever it wants with them!?" Robert shouted.
"If they can't get off that rock it's their own fault and they'll have to deal with the consequences." The Red Dragon representative sneered. Before Robert could begin yelling again the president spoke.
"No one said that is what will happen. In about an hour I will be speaking to the heads of other planets and moons and then a course of action will be decided. Until then I will take you suggestion under consideration. This meeting is adjourned." He stood and left, followed by his bodyguards. After the president left the other participants of the meeting were allowed to go. Robert suppressed a sigh of frustration. The president had already made his decision, he didn't even ask to hear any other options. The others could tell the same thing.
"I think that went rather well didn't you?" The Red Dragon representative asked smugly. Robert growled in response. "I'd watch the way you act right now if I were you. Trying to defend a known terrorist would have consequences not only for you but possibly for your nephew's mother as well." That did it. Threatening him was one thing, that came with the job, but threatening family was something he wasn't about to let happen. Not caring what consequences his actions might have Robert grabbed the little weasel by the front of his suit jacket and lifted him up to eye level. Because of the difference in height the Red Dragon representative's feet were now dangling a foot off the ground.
"Listen up and listen good you boot licking son of a bitch!!" Robert snarled. "I promised my little brother that if anything happened to him I would look after John and his mother. If I find out anything has happened to either of them I'll track you down and break you in half!!" The Red Dragon representative gulped and turned pale. Robert was by no means a small man and looked like he could easily follow through with it. "GOT THAT!?!?" Robert shouted when he didn't get an answer. The Red Dragon representative stiffened and started to stammer a reply when someone grabbed Robert's shoulder.
"I think he got the point Detective." Robert turned around and saw the general addressing him. Frowning he turned back and saw the representative more relaxed now that he was out of danger. Fighting off an urge to shake him until his head rattled Robert set him back down.
"Remember what I said." Robert warned as the representative began to straighten his jacket. Robert glared at the general then started walking down the hallway. "By the way," He called over his shoulder. "You ruined your suit." The Red Dragon representative got a confused look on his face then looked down at his suit to discover that he had been scared so badly he had actually pissed his pants.
On the Bebop
Like the rest of the solar system the Bebop had heard Skynet's declaration of war. Unlike the rest of the solar system, however, they didn't believe a word of it. They also knew that Spike and the others had gone to meet their contact from the ship that had gotten nuked. All attempts at communication were foiled by asteroid interference and the aftermath of the explosion so Ed had attempted to make a connection with a satellite to boost their broadcast power but found themselves blocked out by another signal, Skynet's. After severing their link so it couldn't be traced Jet had Ed search for any satellite that wasn't under Skynet's control.
"Shouldn't we try to find Spike and the others?" Miles asked. "They probably need help."
"Because with Skynet having command of satellites it would be able to track us from orbit." Jet answered. "And as soon as it knows where we are it'll probably lob a nuke at us."
"Well we just can't sit around waiting." Faye protested.
"I know that." Jet answered. "But unless we know where we should go we'll just turn ourselves into a wandering target." Conversation stopped after that until they heard a whoop from Ed.
"Ed has found vacancies at satellite hotel. Come one come all." They all went over and did see that Ed now had control of one of the many abandoned satellites. "What should Ed look at first?"
"The area where John and the others were going." Faye answered. "Maybe they're still there." Typing a few commands Ed ordered the satellite to scan the coordinates that had been decided on for the meeting. There was no sign of them or their mysterious contact but there were almost a dozen motionless forms lying on the ground. Zooming the picture in Ed showed them that the forms were 'dead' Terminators.
"No human bodies and no sign of wreckage." Jet noticed. "That means that they were able to get away. So where did they go?"
"The only place they would know to come back to is here." Doohan stated. "And they don't know about the satellites." He didn't need to go on as the others began to take action. Jet rushed to the bridge to prepare for takeoff the second the others were on board. As he began the engine start up the bridge's radio started crackling.
" …Bebop. Come in Bebop." It sounded like Kyle and if the radios were receiving without a satellite uplink that meant he had to be close.
"We're here Kyle. Where are you and what's the status of you and the others." Jet answered. Kyle sounded like he was badly hurt and if he was the one piloting the transport that meant the others would be in worse shape.
"I'm the only one Jet. The others took off in another direction, didn't want us being followed. I can see the entrance to the pocket now. Should be landing in a few minutes. Autopilot should take care of it."
"Someone will meet you when you touch down." Jet told him. The radio went dead and Jet took out his communicator.
"Something up?" Faye asked, wondering why she had just been buzzed.
"Kyle's going to be landing in a few minutes and he doesn't sound like he's in the best of shape. Meet him down there and let me know the second he touches down." In the hangar the others had gathered to watch the transport land. The autopilot did its job and the craft landed with no problems. As soon as it stopped moving Faye took out he communicator.
"He's in." She reported and they all felt the Bebop lurch forward as Jet activated the engines. The ramp of the transport lowered but when no one came down Faye and Doohan went inside to see what was wrong. There were greeted by the sight of Kyle, his left arm and left leg wrapped up in bloody cloth, trying to walk towards them. He wasn't doing very well because his leg was all but useless and he had to brace himself against the side of the craft with his good arm.
"They knew where we were." Kyle groaned as they put his arms over their shoulders, helping him walk. "Destroyed their ship then came after us. There were dozens of them. Thought I'd make good target practice." They helped him down the ramp and had him sit down against the side of the craft so they could apply first aid. "Can't figure out how they were able to find us so fast." He grunted as they removed Spike's makeshift bandages.
"We know." Doohan said. "Somehow that overgrown calculator managed to get control of communication satellites and probably saw every move you made." Kyle's eyes widened as he realized what Doohan's words meant.
"Oh god, I've lead them back here!"
"Nothing that can be done about that now." Doohan said. "No way you could have known about it. Besides, if you hadn't you'd probably be dead by now."
"If he had continued in his current condition blood loss would have rendered him unconscious in ten minutes and dead within twenty." Arnold stated as he re-bandaged Kyle's leg.
"That's more information then we needed to know." Faye said as she examined Kyle's arm. "I think the bullet is still in there."
"Just one?" Kyle wheezed. "Guess I'm one lucky bastard. I got shot there twice."
"There are also two distinct entrance wounds in your leg." Arnold stated. "And no bullets remain in them either."
"How about that." Kyle almost laughed. "The first bit of good luck I've had in days and I had to get shot to get it."
"This isn't funny Kyle." Faye said. "I don't think we can get it out without going to a hospital."
"Let me look." Arnold said. Before Kyle could protest Arnold was looking at his wounded arm. After a few seconds of scanning he lowered the arm. "The bullet is imbedded within the muscle of the forearm."
"Can you remove it?" Faye asked.
"No. To do so requires medical equipment that we do not have. It is near no major blood vessels and is not an immediate danger, so long as the wound does not become infected and the blood flow stopped he will live."
"That's something at least." Kyle said. "Has there been any word from Spike or John?" He asked as they helped him up and led him to the lounge.
"Nothing yet." Doohan answered. "Any idea where those two were trying to go?"
"None." Kyle responded as he lowered himself onto the couch. "And it's not just them. We meet our contact with the Red Dragons. It was Vicious."
"Him?!" Faye shouted.
"Yeah. Can you believe it?" Kyle responded, not fully understanding Faye's surprise. "We expect some disgruntled egghead and find out one of the Dragons' top men is trying to undermine them. Arrogant asshole wanted us to bring him back here but we weren't about to do that. Almost ended up shooting him, three times."
"You should have." Faye growled, remembering her own unpleasant encounter with Vicious.
"Trust me Faye. If we read the look in Spike's eyes right he'll probably end up doing that when all of this is over, if he hasn't all ready."
As it was Spike was more likely at that to shoot the control panel of the transport they were riding in. Being pushed so hard with the damage it had sustained alarms had been going off and no matter what buttons John or Spike pushed they just wouldn't stop! The only reason Spike hadn't already put a bullet into the controls was because it would be a waste of ammunition. It would probably trigger some other louder and more annoying alarm.
"Can't this junkheap go any faster?" Spike asked John. "I think my eardrums are about to burst."
"Mine aren't much better." John answered. "There any sign of them?!?" He shouted over his shoulder. Vicious was standing at the edge of the still open hatch. John had tried to close it but the hydraulics had been damaged so it stayed open. Vicious had gone to the back to escape the noise and to observe just how closely behind their pursuers were. The Terminators on the ground had long vanished from his field of vision but he knew they were still following them. Instead of answering John he just shook his head. Turning back John began to see what looked like familiar terrain.
"We almost there?" Spike asked, noticing the recognition in John's face.
"Maybe." John answered. "It sure looks like it."
BOOM!
The craft shuddered as one of the engines decided it had had enough of the abuse it was receiving and blew itself out.
"Guess it doesn't matter now because that's where we're landing, like it or not." John said as he started fighting with the controls to keep them from nose-diving into the ground. Thanks to John's handling of the craft and the low altitude they were at they made a rough, but safe, landing on the outskirts of the town. "You in one piece?"
"For the most part." Spike responded.
"Good. Let's get out of here before something else decides to blow up." Grabbing their plasma rifles Spike and John went to the back of the craft and found Vicious already outside, not looking the worse for wear after the landing. Not about to let Vicious' attitude get the better of him John straightened up and started walking towards the town. Spike glared at Vicious until he started to follow John. Spike brought up the rear, covering Vicious in case he tried anything.
"Think whoever was here would have stuck around after that announcement?" Spike asked as they walked through the abandoned streets.
"Hard to say." John answered. "They might have gotten orders to pull out already."
"They are still here." Vicious stated. Spike cocked his head to one side and listened.
"They're right around the next corner, and behind us." Spike added. John was about to ask how they knew that when a new voice was heard.
"FREEZE!" Someone from behind them shouted. Turning around they saw three men in SWAT gear approaching them.
"Put your weapons on the ground and your hands in the air!!" Another voice shouted. They turned back and saw five more SWAT cops advancing, assault rifles ready.
"What do you know. It's the calvary, late as usual." Spike remarked, not making any motion to do what the cop had ordered.
"You're going to have to teach me that trick sometime." John said, also ignoring the heavily armed cops for the moment. The leader of the SWAT team exchanged confused glances with the other team members. These three had eight high-powered rifles trained on them and they acted like they didn't even exist.
"HEY!!" The SWAT leader shouted. "I said weapons on the ground and hands in the air!!!" He succeeded in getting their attention, only instead of looking concerned they looked annoyed.
"Look pal, we've had a bad day." Spike said. "And you're only making it worse. So why don't you just put those guns down ..."
"I GIVE THE ORDERS HERE!!!" The SWAT leader interrupted.
"Well you're doing a great job so far, sergeant." John replied sarcastically. He put emphasis on the officer's rank. He didn't have his badge any longer but John still wore the uniform of an ISSP lieutenant. It threw the SWAT leader for a second.
"I'm sorry sir but I.." He shook his head as and realized what he was doing and who he was talking to. "Wait a minute! I recognize you! You're John Connor." He took aim with his rifle. "And you're not a cop anymore!! And you.." He said, looking at Spike. "You're wanted for the same reason he is."
"Yeah, for killing an ISSP detective and blowing up a building." Spike said, sounding bored.
"And you're here because of the massacre." John added nonchalantly. The SWAT leader glared at him.
"That's classified information." He warned.
"No it isn't." John replied. Before the stunned SWAT leader could respond he continued. "You've found a large number of people dead here. Some from wounds that you can't figure out the cause of. Wounds that look like the people literally exploded." The SWAT leader continued to glare but didn't say anything. "But I bet what really has you confused is that there's more then human bodies here. You've found machines that look like robotic skeletons, and you've probably found a giant headless robot buried under a collapsed building. Am I wrong?"
"How do you know all this?" The SWAT leader asked.
"Because I was here when it happened. I helped destroy those machines." John answered. The SWAT leader gave him a skeptical look. "You don't believe me? Then I'll prove it." He unslung his plasma rifle. The rest of the SWAT team aimed their weapons but the leader held his hand up, telling them to hold their fire. He was curious to see what kind of proof was being offered. "Keep an eye and that wall." John pointed his rifle at one of the buildings and fired a single bolt that blew a hole clear through it. The SWAT leader lowered his weapon and motioned for the others to do the same.
"Captain West is going to want to talk to you." He said. The captain had more information then he did, maybe he would be able to make sense out of all this. "You to." He told Spike. He turned towards Vicious. "What's your part in this?" While he didn't have all the information he did know that the group that Spike and John were with, at least according to Bigshot, didn't include anyone with white hair.
"Much bigger then you could understand." Vicious answered. He left it at that and the SWAT leader wasn't about to question him further.
"Follow me." The SWAT leader said and started walking. The rest of the team kept 'prisoners' covered as they made their way through the streets.
Captain Jason West watched as more and more evidence of the carnage that had happened here mounted, he began to think of how this thing had snowballed. The original call had been to investigate all the explosions that had happened in this already wrecked town. It probably wouldn't have been worth investigating if it hadn't been for the fact that the two distinct series of explosions had been more then a dozen hours apart. That was enough to convince the higher ups that something serious enough to warrant involvement was happening so West was sent down with two ISSP SWAT teams. When they got down to where the explosions had been recorded they found much more then just rubble. There were signs of a large firefight, lots of spent shell casings and dead bodies. The disturbing thing was some of the bodies were not human, they were made of metal and were of a skeletal nature. When they had found the first one they thought it was a fake, something that was used to scare off bandits. They learned otherwise when they found out the rifle it had in its hand was real and had been half fired.
That had made them nervous and the fact they found dead people amid the 'dead' machines and signs that they had been firing at each other was enough for West to order a building by building search. But when they stumbled across a building with both remains of machines and people scattered around the outside and the inside the saw a barricade and more bodies, indicating a last stand, that had been it. West had put in an emergency call, requesting that a heavy weapons team be sent in. He didn't know what was going on but whatever those metal things were they had gone down hard, and had killed a lot of people in the process. When HQ had asked why West was requesting a heavy weapons team for such a low-grade assignment he had said that a band of heavily armed bandits had wiped out an entire town and could still be in the area. While ISSP wouldn't regularly waste their time with Earth bandits having an entire town killed under their nose, even an Earth town, would not sit well with the general population. Half an hour later the team landed.
An ISSP heavy weapons team was what amounted to a super SWAT team. When situations were encountered that required a military type level of response and no planetary military was able, or willing, to take action a heavy weapons team would be called in. Their missions mostly comprised of furious close quarter combat against criminals that usually were equipped with military style hardware so they were equipped in kind. Instead of a standard assault weapons they were issued the top of the line OICW rifle. A combination assault rifle and clip fed grenade launcher the OICW was devastating weapon, more then a match for any rifle anyone could get outside of the military. With the addition of the ten man heavy weapons team West now had almost thirty men at his command, and that still didn't seem like enough. After the team had landed West gave orders. The regular SWAT team would search for any survivors and bring any body they found, human or otherwise, to the formally besieged building, which was now serving as their command center, for identification. The heavy weapons team would cover their actions in case one of these things were still walking around. As more and more bodies were brought in West noticed that the human dead outnumbered the machine dead.
It had been going as well as could be expected, then that strange message from something called Skynet came through. All of them had heard it and West had a suspicion that Skynet and the massacre were connected. He had contacted HQ and was told to continue as before and await further orders. That's when the problems had started. First that reporter had appeared out of nowhere, later claiming that she had followed the heavy weapons team down, demanding that she allowed to tell the public what had happened here. Not even he knew what had happened and the scale of violence was more then the public was probably ready for after Skynet had used that nuke. He had confiscated all her equipment, including her ship, and now she, her cameraman, and video technician were being detained in a building adjacent of the command center by two SWAT officers. He believed in freedom of the press and as soon as he got clearance he would let them report this but until then everything would be kept under wraps. Almost as soon as that problem was solved another one popped up, an unidentified craft was headed their way and didn't respond to any communications attempts. He was about to order warning shots be fired when their visitor crashed. Not wanting to take chances he had sent the remainder of the first SWAT team to investigate. He had gotten a radio report saying that there were some people he would want to talk to and that they knew what had happened here. This day just kept on getting weirder and weirder.
As the SWAT team continued to lead them John began to recognize the surroundings. It was this area where the second Terminator attack had been concentrated. Finally they came to a place he remembered quite well, the building where what would have been a last stand if it wasn't for the help of the group from the Bebop. Now it appeared the ISSP had converted it into their staging area. Equipment had been set up and guarded by ISSP officers carrying guns that would put anything short of the plasma rifles to shame. What caught John's eye was what had been set up off to the side of the building. Two rows of bodies had been laid out. On one side were the bodies, and parts of, the Terminators that had attacked the town. One the other side, covered by sheets, were the bodies of those who had died in the attack. The row of human bodies was almost twice as long as the row of Terminator bodies.
"How many were killed?" John asked the SWAT leader.
"We don't know." The SWAT leader answered. "We're still finding bodies but the latest count was over fifty." John felt his stomach tighten up. He knew most had been killed in the attack by the T-70, something that took everyone by surprise, but he couldn't help but feel guilty because he wasn't able to stop it. In contrast, Vicious looked at the collected bodies with cold indifference.
"You jackboots find someone else to unlawfully imprison?!?" Someone shouted. Looking towards the sound of the voice they saw a blond woman standing in the doorway of a building that in its better years might have been a mom and pop store. The obvious reason she wasn't coming out of the building was the two SWAT officers that stood on either side of the door.
"You're not unlawfully imprisoned Mary!" The SWAT leader shouted back. "You're free to go any time you want, but without a ship it's going to be a long walk!" The other SWAT members laughed while Mary huffed and went back inside the building.
"And who's that?" Spike asked.
"Mary Somers. A two bit reporter that followed us down here looking for her 'big story'." The SWAT leader answered. "We're keeping her here until we figure out what's going on." He led them into the main building. "Sir." He said and saluted the captain. The captain returned the salute.
"That will be all sergeant." The SWAT leader and the rest of his team left. "I've been told that you know what happened here. Is that right?" He asked John, getting right to the point.
"That's right." John replied and he gave the captain a basic outline of what was going on, leaving out details like how they came by their information or where exactly they came from. When he told about their recent getaway and how they were being followed by a small army of Terminators West interrupted.
"Just how far away are they now?"
"Don't know." John answered. "We might have been able to lose them." West triggered his shoulder mike.
"Richards."
"Yes sir?" A voice answered.
"Get onto one of the roofs and keep an eye in the direction our guests came from. If you see anything strange contact me immediately."
"Affirmative sir." Richards answered and turned off the mike.
"You're sure that what Skynet said was a lie?" West asked.
"Positive." John answered. "We have proof that Skynet was deceiving the Red Dragons while building up its own military force." West considered the situation. Everything they said matched up with what had happened but it also contradicted everything his superiors had been saying. Before he could make a decision his radio started beeping.
"West here."
"Sir, we've got an emergency message coming in. All frequencies." West frowned.
"Patch it through." He ordered.
"Yes sir." After a short burst of static they heard another voice that they recognized as being the president of Mars.
"It is the decision of all planetary leaders that, in order to avoid further loss of life, we are to adhere to Skynet's requests. In a closed meeting we reached a unanimous decision to acknowledge Skynet's existence and his claim to the planet Earth. We ask for only two conditions. One: That we be given an opportunity to evacuate all essential personnel from the planet. And second, Skynet's acceptance of a planetary boarder that is to extend no further then five thousand miles outside the moon's orbit. In return for these two conditions being honored we will stay out of the boarder that has been set and shut down the Earth astral gate to ensure that this is enforced. I understand that there will be hardships for those who cannot leave Earth but we cannot afford to have the level of destruction Skynet has displayed used against our own citizens. We cannot.." West snapped off the radio.
"That's strange. You don't seem that happy with the decision." Spike remarked. "I would have thought that you'd be thrilled to get transferred off of this rock."
"I have family down here." West answered. "I was hoping that I'd be able to get them to Mars one day."
"Looks like someone else has other ideas." John remarked, surprising himself. He had never talked to a superior officer like this, not to their face anyway. He was definitely picking up some bad habits from hanging around the Bebop crew. His remark did get a glare from West, as well as an opportunity. "You have a choice you have to make now Captain. Are you going to help us, or are you going to just pack up and leave?" West scowled at the question but didn't say anything. After a few minutes of thought he spoke.
"What are you planning to do?" West asked. John started to grin.
Inside the improvised jail that had been set up Mary Somers paced, cursing the world in general and the ISSP in particular for keeping her cooped up like this. In contrast her cameraman and video technician sat calmly watching. She stopped pacing when she heard the door open and turned to see one of the people she had seen escorted in earlier, the one wearing the ISSP uniform.
"Come to gloat about your suppression of free speech?" She sneered, to her all cops were the same.
"On the contrary Miss Somers." The new policemen said. "I've come to give you what you wanted." Mary looked at him curiously. "How would you like to have sole access to the story of the century?" Mary's mood did a quick one-eighty and she started to smile.
"Tell me more." She said.
Cheyenne Mountain Command Center
Skynet watched the broadcasted response to his demands with great interest. As he had calculated the mass confusion and shock had convinced them to quickly agree to his demands in order to keep any more attacks from happening. Of course Skynet had no intention of ceasing his attacks, now that he had time to prepare for a full-scale assault against the humans he would utilize it. Now that the outside human threat had been eliminated there was only the internal one to deal with. Satellite tracking of both the escape craft had finally led him to the source of all his troubles. No sooner had the swifter of the craft entered a cave that was more then big enough to hide a ship, the Bebop had come flying out of it. Now that he had coordinates for the ship's location the fighters now had a target to lock onto.
The second craft had gone down near the area where John Connor and Faye Valentine had managed to elude him before and destroy one of the first T-70s. A high amount of ISSP activity was detected in the area but not enough to warrant the use of a nuclear missile. The force of Terminators that had been following the stricken craft would be sufficient to handle this. It would also be a good test of ISSP's fighting tactics, since they would be among the first Skynet would have to deal with when the true war came. There was also the matter of base defense. However unlikely it was there was a possibility the humans might launch an attack on the command center and while T-70 and T-800 robots patrolled on the ground and Hunter Killers would patrol the air a determined assault with heavy armor had a high probability of breaching the base defenses. To counter this threat Skynet had every spare T-800 working on a construction project of massive proportions that would deter even the most determined attacker. Once construction began Skynet checked the data for his most important project, one that was buried inside the Terminator construction facility. Skynet was pleased with the progress. If advancement continued at this pace the project would be free of flaws and ready for operation in less then a day.
The high amount of activity Skynet was observing in the town was the preparations for the attack Spike and the others knew was coming. The heavy weapons team was setting up firing positions under the supervision of Spike and Vicious. Neither wanted to work with the other but neither of them wanted to be part of the other half of John's plan either. Vicious wanted to keep to in the shadows as much as possible, and besides he didn't care about warning anyone, just keeping himself alive. Spike, well, what the hell was he going to say? He wasn't a speechmaker and didn't know how to explain any of this and have people believe him. That had left John to let the world know the truth about Skynet. Mary had jumped on the chance to get to cover a story like this and had been very efficient in setting everything up.
"I just hope I don't make an idiot of myself." John said as Mary helped him attach a wireless microphone to his uniform.
"Just relax and talk like you would to just one person. Do that and you'll be fine." Mary told him. "Are we coming in all right?" She asked the cameraman, who gave her a thumbs up.
"Are you sure this is going to reach as many people as you say."
"Trust us. We know a thing or two about breaking into other people's broadcasts." Mary replied with a wink. John decided that they knew what they were doing and was going to trust their expertise. When everything was ready they took there positions near what John hoped would have the most effect on those watching, the body collection. Inside Mary's ship the technician initiated an emergency broadcast, both on their own channels and the channels of most of their competitors.
"We're on." He spoke into his mike. Outside the cameraman heard it in his earpeice and signaled Mary.
"This Mary Somers reporting live from Earth. As you know, in the wake of nuclear attack and demands made by the supercomputer known as Skynet the collective governments of the solar system have negotiated what they believe will be peace by surrendering this planet. I have with me John Connor, who has had firsthand experience in dealing with Skynet and claims that the supercomputer has a different agenda then what is telling us." Mary turned towards John and the camera focused in on him. Taking a deep breath and hoping he would sound believable John started to speak.
"Most of you watching will already know who I am. A great deal of effort the past couple of days has been put into convincing people that myself and those I am with are terrorists, murderers. I am not a terrorist and I am not insane, neither are my friends, who have also been branded as such. This smokescreen was devised by the Red Dragons to keep their secret hidden. Now it's the work of Skynet itself, only this time trying to hide its own intentions. Put in the simplest terms, Skynet is lying."
Across the solar system people were again watching. Listening intently to a new side of the story.
"Skynet has no intention of coexisting with the human race. This is proof enough of that." John motioned with his arm and the cameraman followed the motion to the line of Terminator bodies. "These machines are called Terminators, and they were built for one thing, to kill people. They don't feel pity for the weak, or remorse about what they do, and they have no fear of anything, not even their own destruction. I have fought these things and they will not give up, will not stop, until they or their target has been destroyed." As John spoke the cameraman panned over one of the more intact Terminator bodies, giving the rest of humanity its first good look at the truth.
On Mars Meifa watched as the John continued to speak. When she had first learned of the crimes Jet and his friends had been accused of she refused to believe them. They were good people; she had been able to see that when she had first met them. They had helped her when her father had disappeared and were the only ones who would listen to her when she encountered what she now knew was a Predator. With all that had been said about Jet and the others it was hard to know who to believe but Meifa instinctively knew she could believe John. She could see a strong spirit in him, one that was trying to do what was right.
"This is what we've been fighting and this is what the Red Dragons tried so hard to protect. The police officers we're accused of murdering were all one of these, camouflaged to look human. We did blow up the Cyberdyne building, but it was to stop anything else like this from being created. Skynet has built thousands of these; in addition it is making bigger and more powerful machines. We have proof of that and if they're watching I suggest that they send those reports from Skynet we managed to steal."
On the Bebop they were watching. Jet, Faye, and Kyle had been on the bridge, trying to figure out what their next move was going to be now that Earth was officially being abandoned when Ed came running into the room and put Tomato onto the main console before anyone could say anything.
"John person is on TV!" She announced to the surprised adults. Their initial reaction was that she had come across something that was profiling John in order to help the bounty hunters that would be after them. When they saw it was John, alive and apparently unharmed, they huddled around the computer.
"He actually managed to get somewhere in that junkheap." Kyle said.
"Yeah but just where is he?" Jet asked. As John showed the camera the row of destroyed Terminators it clicked for Kyle and Faye.
"Of all the places he would end up." Faye remarked.
"It would be the best place for what he's doing." Kyle added. " Plenty of evidence and no one to contradict him." When John mentioned sending the reports they managed to steal Ed jumped into action.
"What are you doing?" Faye asked.
"John person said that important people should see what Ed managed to find and Ed is doing what John person said." Ed replied as she sent the real status report on Skynet's forces to dozens of e-mail addresses. The three exchanged confused looks and went back to watching the window Ed had open that was displaying John's speech, or tried to watch it as it began to deteriorate into static.
"DAMN!!" The video technician shouted as his screen started to deteriorate as well. "Hold on for a second." He spoke into his mike. "We're getting some sort of interference! Almost looks like someone's jamming us!" He said as he started to adjust the equipment.
On the Bebop Ed had come to the same conclusion and had even found out who was behind it.
"You mean Skynet is doing this?" Kyle asked. Ed nodded.
"Big Brain didn't like John person's TV show and decided to turn it off." She told them. For her it had only taken a few seconds to trace the interference back to Skynet. As she broke into the broadcast frequencies she saw that there was someone else besides Skynet and herself. "Hmmm?" She said and watched as the second person tried to break Skynet's interference. "Ed has a friend." She said mostly to herself.
"What's she talking about?" Kyle asked.
"Someone else is trying to make Big Brain turn John person back on." Ed explained and began typing. "Ed will help new friend."
On Earth the technician was still trying to clear up whatever the interference was when a pop up window suddenly appeared. He was surprised that someone had managed to send him a message, but what the message said was something he never would have expected.
"Don't worry about Big Brain. Ed will take care of it." The technician read aloud. At the bottom of the message there was a yellow smiley face. His mike was still active and the cameraman picked up everything he said.
"Big Brain? Ed? What's he talking about?" The cameraman asked. Mary also had a confused look on her face but John just smiled at the news. With Ed helping them John was sure the interference wouldn't last much longer.
Cheyenne Mountain Command Center
When Skynet had begun to receive the transmission made by John Connor he had not chosen to interrupt it at first, that would arouse suspicions. What Connor was showing could easily be denied as the words of a terrorist; or as a first strike by the humans against Skynet. However when Connor had made a plea to his associates to release hard evidence of Skynet's deception it was decided that the broadcast had gone far enough and jamming was commenced. There was a slight problem with whoever was controlling the video feed but that would be dealt with easily enough. Then someone new was detected in the data stream. Again Skynet felt anger as he recognized who it was, Radical Edward. The child who had dared break into his core programming and steal the documents John had wanted spread. Skynet prepared itself for Radical Edward trying to break through the interference he was transmitting but Radical Edward didn't try to break it, he was manipulating the interference itself. Skynet couldn't understand what the human was trying when he was suddenly hit with feedback from his own jamming. The human hadn't been trying to destroy the interference, he had rerouted it into a loop back at Skynet!!! Now Skynet was more or less jamming itself and was locked out of that frequency!! Becoming angrier Skynet immediately altered his plans for he fate of the Bebop. Before he had been content to let the Hunter Killers just shoot it down and kill everyone on board. Now, however, Skynet would force the ship down with the fighters and then use the T-800s to invade the craft. Showing just how advanced its emotions had developed Skynet was determined to capture Radical Edward alive and bring him back to the command center to make him pay for his actions against a superior being. If nothing else Skynet could probably find some amusement in dissecting the human to see what had made it so smart.
Back at the abandoned town the video technician watched as the interference disappeared.
"Thank you Ed." He said, not really understanding what had happened. "We're clear." He said into his mike. Outside the cameraman nodded, signaling John to continue.
"As you can see, Skynet wants the truth hidden. This truth." He pointed and the cameraman panned over to the covered up human bodies. "They were civilians, not a threat to anyone, just people who were trying to survive. This is what Skynet will do to everyone on this planet if given a chance. It will not accept negotiations and it won't accept any reasoning except its own, that we're the inferior species and deserve to be exterminated like bugs. To give into Skynet's demands is to say the human race is ready to roll over and die. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to fight and…"
"John!!" Someone shouted from off screen. Captain West came running into the picture. "We've just spotted them. They'll be here in less then ten minutes."
"Get everyone to their posts and have them ready." John replied. The interview forgotten he started running. Mary and the cameraman were quick to follow.
"It appears that the Skynet forces that were expected will soon be arriving." Mary narrated as they chased John through the streets. "Whatever happens you can depend on us to show you everything." She said as they followed John up a fire escape and onto the roof of a building. On top the camera showed several men in ISSP uniforms shouldering portable rocket launchers. John had taken his plasma rifle off his back and now had it aimed. Turning the camera in the direction John had his rifle pointed they could see the line of Terminators that was approaching. "Oh my god."
On the Bebop those on the bridge continued to watch the report until the radar started beeping. It showed eight small craft in front of them, most likely fighters.
"Please tell me those are ISSP fighters telling us to get the hell off this planet." Faye said. Going to visual Jet brought up a long-range picture that showed eight strangely shaped craft with their engines mounted on their wings. Jet and Faye recognized the craft a split second before a salvo of purple lights came hurtling towards them.