Chapter 26: Build Up
"So you think they're coming to help us or kill us?" Spike asked as he watched the first ISSP ship touch down. It was reasonable to suspect that anyone who was scheduled to be evacuated from Earth would be pretty pissed of about being abandoned. And since it seemed to be their fault, [all right it was their fault, technically.] it stood to reason that some of these guys would be very eager to put a bullet in their heads. The first ISSP unit to respond happened to be a second, larger heavy weapons team. One that, with several large transports and what looked like a squadron of fighters, looked prepared to fight a small war.
"Well they haven't blown anything up yet so I suppose they're coming to help." West answered. As other ships started to land around it the three of them walked towards the first ship.
"West, you'd better be right about this!!" A voice shouted. Someone climbed out of the first ship and started walking towards them. "We're set to get off this rock and then the shit hits the fan!!" As the person got closer they saw that the man was wearing a captains uniform and an angry look on his face.
"Nice to see you to Al." West responded, not reacting to the man's outbursts.
"You know this guy?" John asked.
"We used to be in the same SWAT team." West answered. "He got transferred to heavy weapons while I stayed with the regular SWAT team, and somehow we both managed to get assigned to this mudball. Spike, John meet Al Belkin."
"And everybody knows who you are, and what you've done." Al told them. "Do you know how many people were suggesting we blow you sons of bitches away?"
"I'd imagine quite a few." Spike responded, unsurprised.
"You got that right. They were just waiting for you to give away your location so they could start air strikes."
"So what made them change their minds?" John asked.
"I was able to convince them that the only reasons that you would be stupid enough to give your location after stranding us would be that you're suicidal, or that what you said have some truth to it. Now there are much, much easier ways of committing suicide then this, and with everything that's been going on lately we decided that you were probably telling the truth and were probably our best chance at getting off this rock."
"Glad to have you aboard Al." West said and shook Al's hand.
"So I suppose you've got some sort of master plan all set?" Al asked.
"Actually we're still working that out." West replied. "There wasn't much time to think ahead when I did this." Al scowled at the statement. "But I do know one thing that we can do. Spike, John, do you think the Bebop could get in touch with your friend that knows computers?"
"It shouldn't be that big of a problem." Spike answered. Of course it wouldn't be, Ed was on the ship.
"Good. If whoever it is can disable nuclear missiles then he should be able to get control of one of the satellites Skynet missed."
"And then what captain? Fight an army with what little you have here?" They turned and saw Vicious approaching them.
"There'll be others." West answered confidently. "Without the military they'll be all we have."
"And even if fighting with such a small force means certain death, you will do it anyway?" Vicious asked.
"It's better to go out fighting then be hunted down like rats." John sneered. Like the other he didn't like Vicious questioning their decisions.
"And in case you didn't hear martial law has been declared so whatever I say goes." West added.
"I heard." Vicious responded. "Quite an interesting way of handling things captain, but I believe you have forgotten one thing."
"What's that?" West sneered, not liking the fact Vicious was trying to lecture him. Spike caught the movement first but before he could do anything Vicious struck West across the face with his sword. West hit the ground and in response Spike, John, and Al drew their guns, pointing them at Vicious. They were about to empty their weapons when they heard West yelling.
"SON OF A BITCH!!!" The others looked down to see West, getting up. There was a red mark where he had been hit. His nose now had an odd shape [obviously broken] and was bleeding but he was getting up. The others knew that it wasn't possible. That sword had been able cut through Terminator armor and it should have sliced West's head like a melon. Looking back at Vicious they saw that he had was holding his Katana in a ready position, and that it was still in its scabbard. He had never even unsheathed it.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT!?!?" West demanded. Vicious calmly lowered his sword.
"I will help you fight Skynet, but do not presume that gives you authority to give me orders like you would your men. You also needed to be put in your place for your actions earlier." He turned and began to walk away. His judgment impaired by anger West started to go after him.
"Just what makes you think…!?!?" Was as far as West got when Vicious turned, unsheathed his sword, and had the point to his throat. Despite the danger West forced himself to remain calm. "You do that and you'll be dead before I hit the ground."
"Perhaps," Vicious admitted. "but by that time it will hardly matter to you." To underscore the point he applied pressure that was just short of puncturing the skin. "Allow me to clarify something for you captain. The only reason I am choosing to fight is because Skynet might interfere with my own plans in the future, so don't expect any type of loyalty from me." He took the sword away from West's throat and re-sheathed it. "You would do well to remember that." He again turned and started walking and this time West didn't follow.
"It's good to have loyal help isn't it?" John asked as he and the others walked up to West.
"If we didn't need him…" West snarled as he put his hand to his neck. It came away with a small drop of blood on it. It was nothing worse then a shaving cut and wasn't bleeding but that didn't matter to West. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch when this is over."
"You'll have to get in line for that." Spike remarked.
"That really doesn't surprise me." West said as he grabbed his broken nose. Taking a deep breath he jerked it back into alignment with a snap. "OW!" Even though it had hurt like hell West was able to breathe through his nose again, despite the blood. Trying to keep his mind off the pain he began giving orders. "Spike, John, contact your ship. Tell them what we're planning. Al, I want you to get two squads of your best and have them ready to move out, with the heaviest stuff they can carry. Spike and John will give you the coordinates of their ship. Once you've got them tell those squads to go there and defend that ship at all costs, we'll need it as a relay." He looked up at the still arriving ISSP craft. "I'm also going to want to meet with all the ISSP commanders once everyone has arrived. That includes you three." He added then started walking in the direction of the medical area.
On board the Bebop
After Captain West's declaration of martial law everyone on board knew that things were about to speed up, so anyone who wasn't needed elsewhere were gathered on the bridge. Well, to be precise all those who weren't needed elsewhere and those who could physically get there were on the bridge. Kyle had one fully functional arm when he landed on the Bebop, now that arm had a broken hand attached to it and he had a major concussion. In combination with his previous injuries the others had decided that Kyle was officially out of action and was relegated to the couch in the lounge. He had tried to protest but after they had threatened to lock him in the bathroom he opted to take the couch instead. Sure enough not long after West had made his announcement the Bebop started to receive a transmission.
"Hey Jet are you still there?" Spike's voice said over the radio.
"We're here." Jet answered. "And before you say anything Kyle called the Bebop a garbage scow when we were escaping Cyberdyne." Faye and Ed gave him curious looks but Jet wasn't about to elaborate. "Now how do I know I'm really talking to Spike?" Despite how furious he was about his own questioning Jet could see the validity of doing this.
"Your buddy Joe decided to doublecross us and is probably still tied up in the bathroom." Spike replied.
"I guess that means you're real." Jet said. "Got any good news?"
"Yeah, and a lot of it for once." Spike replied. "Looks like no one is stupid enough to listen to what the governments are saying anymore so they're coming here. West also said he'll be sending a couple of ISSP squads your way to protect the ship while you contact our hacker friend from way, way out there."
"Spike, wouldn't it just be easier to….?" Jet began.
"Jet, someone needs to stay behind to keep in contact with him." Spike said in a voice that told Jet that asking questions right now was not a good idea and he should go along with him.
"I guess we could find someone we can leave here." Jet finally answered, giving a shrug to Ed and Faye, who still had a look of confusion on their faces.
"That's good, in the meantime West wants our hacker to find any satellites Skynet doesn't have and try to get pictures of what's going on." Jet nodded to Ed, who started typing. "And since West wants as much air cover as he can get you guys might want to fly out here. Tell Doohan he'll have to fly the Swordfish out."
"Doohan already took the Swordfish out once." Jet answered. "He managed to shoot down three of those fighters by himself."
"Nice to see the old guy hasn't gotten rusty." Spike remarked.
"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that." Jet replied. "Is there anything else you guys need from us?"
"Yes." John answered. "My rifle was destroyed and Spike's is empty. You'd better bring the rest of the rifles and fresh clips."
"All of them?" Jet questioned. "Isn't that a bit risky?"
"We don't really have a lot of options. We need every advantage we can get, and we're going to have to take some risks." To the best of their knowledge the rifles they had taken from Cyberdyne were the only working ones there were, and with the data on them wiped nobody else would be able to make them. On the other hand if one of the rifles was picked up by one of the syndicate controlled cops it wouldn't be hard to analyze it and begin production of new ones. Right now the syndicates having plasma guns was the lesser of two evils when compared to Skynet.
"Guess we can't afford to pull any punches." Jet replied. "We'll fly out there as soon as that help of yours arrives, and I don't think Arnold would mind staying here to look after things." Spike and John knew Arnold wouldn't, if Jet told him to stay he'd stay. Even if he had wanted to come they doubted any of their personal craft could handle his weight.
"Roger that Jet, we'll see you then." John said then broke the connection. "You have that navigational data I told you to record?" He asked the radio technician.
"Right here sir." The tech replied and handed him a small disk.
"Thanks." He said and turned to Spike. "Let's go find Al, he's going to need this."
"So who's going to get the rifles once they get here?" Spike asked as they headed towards Al's group of ships. After looking around to make sure no one was paying attention John answered.
"West's team is our best bet. He has something personal to lose if we fail, and it looks like he has pretty good control of his men."
"One of his men could be a syndicate plant." Spike told him.
"I know that." John responded. "West could be a syndicate plant to. Anyone here except you and me could be an undercover member of the syndicates. At least with Vicious we know where his loyalties are, everyone else…" He just shrugged.
"You pay your money and you take your chances." Spike said. John nodded in agreement. As they approached the first group of ships Al came out to meet them.
"Got the teams briefed and ready to go, just like you wanted. All you need to do is give them the word."
"Here's the word." John said, handing Al the disk. "That'll tell them were to go. Once they get there they set up a perimeter and guard that ship until they hear from us." Al nodded.
"JACKSON!!" He shouted at someone. From behind him a young man in a pilots uniform ran up to them and saluted.
"Sir!" Jackson responded with a salute. Al held out the disk.
"This will tell you where to go. When you get there the captain of that ship is in charge so you do what he says. Understand?"
"Yes sir!" Jackson said and took the disk.
"When you talk to them ask Jet if he's been attacked by any mutant lobsters lately. That'll tell him you're the good guys." Spike told him.
"Can you remember that Jackson?" Jackson nodded "Then move out!" Al ordered. Jackson turned and headed for one of the transport ships. "West radioed that all the ISSP commanders go to his headquarters for briefing. That means us to." As the three of them started to go back to the building West had designated headquarters they failed to see someone approach Jackson as he started to walk into his transport. After talking for a moment both entered the transport and a minute later it took off, along with a second transport and three ISSP fighters for escort.
"So what do you think West is planning?" Al asked.
"Don't know." John answered. "It depends on what the satellites tell us Skynet is doing."
At that moment Skynet was doing quite a bit. Knowing that attack from human forces in the command center was now immanent Skynet knew it needed to defend itself at all costs. Construction of the base defense project was complete and now it only needed to be activated. That one unit alone would not be able defend the complex so Skynet was diverting forces from everywhere. All units that were in the field were being recalled to defend Cheyenne Mountain, even the ones guarding the production facility were ordered away. If the production facility was destroyed Skynet could always construct another, but if the command center fell that would be the end of him. All the Hunter Killer fighters would fly twenty-four hour patrols until the situation was resolved. His experiment was almost structurally complete but it would take several more hours to prepare it for interface. Skynet did have a large ground force but it lacked the heavy weapons the humans did, and the latest satellite images showed a large number of not only ISSP but also civilian vehicles converging on the abandoned town Skynet had tried to destroy. If nuclear weapons were still available he would have been able to wipe out both threats in an instant. Instead he was forced to fight the humans in a conventional battle, all because of Radical Edward. If not for that child things would be very different right now, Skynet was sure of it. He wanted to send a large attack force after the Bebop and kill all aboard but that was no longer an option. He was forced to watch as the Bebop remained untouched and as several ISSP ships made their way towards it.
On board the Bebop
"So how long until they get here?" Kyle asked over the ship's radio.
"Spike didn't say. They shouldn't be long though." Jet responded from the hangar, where he and the others were getting ready to leave. "Did you give them the pictures they wanted?" Kyle was currently on the bridge with Ed, having been chosen to 'relay' the information Ed downloaded. It would be nothing more then just talking to the ISSP forces and pretending to contact the 'mysterious' hacker they had contact with. In reality Ed would be doing all the work and all Kyle had to do was make sure they didn't figure out she was there. It wasn't the most glamorous of jobs but it beat lying on the couch for the duration. It was kind of funny since he had almost needed to be carried up to the bridge and once he was there he wasn't moving again until this thing was over.
"Just sent them." Kyle answered.
"And?" Jet prompted.
"It's not looking too good. Looks like Skynet is calling in everything it has. I can't even count how many there are." Ed had concentrated on Skynet's two main facilities to show what kind of movement Skynet was up to. So far all the forces seemed to be heading for and concentrating on setting up a defense around the command center. There was also a strange looking structure near the command center but none of them could figure out what it was. They had made note of it when they had sent the pictures to West and hoped they could figure out what it was.
"Well remember, it's not just us against them anymore." Jet reminded him. Kyle cleared his throat nervously. Out of curiosity he had told Ed to show him the town where the ISSP were gathering, and while they looked strong they were also sorely outnumbered by Skynet's forces. They odd thing was that along with the ISSP ships he saw quite a few land vehicles headed their way. At first he thought it was another attack by Skynet but all the vehicles were being driven by humans. Kyle believed they were probably civilians trying to find safety in all the chaos that was going on. He just hoped they wouldn't get in the way. He was about to tell Jet about the civilian convoy when the radar in front of him beeped.
"I've got something." He said and concentrated on the screen.
"Friend or foe?" Jet asked. Kyle didn't answer as he waited for the computer to identify the craft. He sighed with relief when it came up with the results.
"We've got two ISSP troop carriers, one supply ship and three fighters inbound." Kyle reported.
"Have they tried contacting us?" Jet asked, some suspicion still in his voice. Kyle admitted that while it was possible for Skynet to gain access to such craft or even build them he thought it highly unlikely that the supercomputer would actually use them like this. It would be much easier just to use a regular attack force then to go through all the trouble of trying to fool them. In front of him a light was flashing, indicating that someone was trying to radio them.
"They've just started. You want me to patch it down to you guys?"
"Go ahead." Jet responded. After Kyle connected them Jet spoke to whoever was out there. "This is Jet Black, captain of the Bebop. Who am I talking to?"
"This is Corporal Kevin Jackson eighth ISSP unit Earth sector." A voice responded.
"You got any proof of that?" Jet asked. After everything they had been through so far he wasn't about to start taking chances.
"Uh, yes sir. I was given a pass code, I think. I don't know what this means but I was told to ask you if you've been attacked by any mutant lobsters lately." The only response he heard was silence. "Did I get that right sir?" Jackson asked.
"Yeah you got it right." Jet finally grumbled into the radio. "I guess that means you're on our side." There was another grumble of irritation before he spoke. "All right corporal this is how we're going to do things. You guys do what you need to in order to protect this ship but you are not, I repeat, NOT to enter the ship itself. Skynet is going to attack from the outside and that's where I need everyone. You can land on deck if you have to after we leave but you don't land inside the ship. After I go Kyle Reese is going to be in charge so you do whatever you say. Got that!?" Whoever Jackson was he sounded like a rookie, even greener the John or Kyle. Jet had dealt with his fair share of rookies back when he was on the force and knew how Jackson would react.
"Affirmative sir!" Jackson responded.
"Good. We'll leave in a few minutes, after that, Kyle's in charge."
"Understood sir." Jackson answered. Jet listened as Kyle cut the feed and went back to inter-ship communication.
"A mutant lobster?" Kyle asked the second contact with Jackson was broken.
"Don't ask." Was Jet's answer.
"Brother. A talking computer, a data dog, hallucinogenic mushrooms, aliens, killer robots and now a mutant lobster? You people certainly lead interesting lives."
"Well it's not exactly a picnic." Jet paused as he realized something. "HEY! How did you find out about the mushrooms!?"
"Ed told me." Kyle answered. "It's awful boring sitting around doing nothing so I asked Ed to tell me what kind of bounty hunts you guys had. I've got to tell you, you guys could make a fortune if you sold this stuff. It's like listening to a sci-fi series."
"We'll keep our bounty hunts private thank you." Jet growled. "That goes for you to Ed!" He warned before snapping off the radio. That taken care of he walked over to Arnold, who was finishing rearming the Red Tail.
"Everything is ready." Arnold said as he locked the final missile into position.
"Then we'll leave immediately." Jet responded. "But before we do I'm going to give you your own assignment for while we're gone." Recognizing the importance of what Jet was saying Arnold focused all of his attention on him. "Spike and John wanted everyone with them to think Ed isn't on this ship, and they wouldn't do that without good reason. We've got to keep them from getting too curious and finding out anything they shouldn't. Now I've been able to close off every entry point that leads inside the Bebop except the bridge and here. Kyle can take care of anyone who tried to come through the bridge windows, but you're going to have to guard the hangar. Except for us stop anyone who's trying to get inside the ship. Use this if you have to." He handed Arnold Spike's Jerico pistol. Arnold took the gun, made sure a round was chambered and flicked the safety off before putting it in the small of his back. Arnold's Desert Eagle had been destroyed during his capture and Jet needed to be sure he could protect the ship.
"No one shall be allowed in." Arnold stated. That was all Jet needed to hear.
"Then there's no reason for us to stick around." Jet said as he walked over to the Hammerhead. "You two ready?"
"For something like this? No." Faye responded. "But lets get going anyway."
"They're not going to wait for us forever." Doohan added as he started up the Swordfish.
"Then let's get moving." Jet said as he climbed into the Hammerhead. A few seconds later Kyle watched them take off and fly into the distance. He was also able to visually see the ISSP craft approaching.
"Ok, you guys you can land on the deck if you have to but remember what the boss said. No one comes inside unless I tell them to." Kyle told them over the radio.
"Affirmative Bebop." Jackson replied. Satisfied that they understood Kyle shut off the radio and turned to Ed.
"So Ed. Tell me more about this mutant lobster." Ed smiled at the question and eagerly began to talk.
While Ed was telling Kyle her version of what had happened with the mutated lobster Jackson was issuing orders to his group.
"We do this just like we planned. The sky-jocks will patrol a perimeter around the ship at ten miles. If they see anything weird they warn us and we get ready to blow some tin cans into scrap. We'll put most of the men and weapons transport on the ground so they can get fresh rockets quickly, remember to stay in groups of at least three. We'll also put a few men on the deck to give us a better firing position, I don't think they'll mind that."
"I suggest that men from this ship be placed on theirs." An emotionless voice said from behind him. Jackson involuntarily shuddered at the sound of it. When the strange man with the white hair and almost dead looking eyes had told Jackson that he was a member of the Bebop crew and needed to get back to the ship the rookie had seen no real reason to doubt him. He had been fighting alongside the ISSP during the televised attack and he seemed to fit with the strange crowd that John and Spike seemed to be a part of. However there was something about him that wasn't right. Showing just how green Jackson was he had ignored that feeling and not only didn't recognize Vicious but allowed him to come along without notifying his superiors.
"You're going to have to tell them you're back." Jackson told him.
"No need." Vicious responded. "They know I am coming and are expecting me." Jackson shrugged, reasoning that if the people on the ship didn't know about their friend coming they would have said something. He landed the transport he was flying on the Bebop's deck and lowered the ramp. Several men, Vicious included, got off the ship. While the ISSP officers began to set up firing positions Vicious headed straight for the hangar opening. Getting to this rustbucket of a ship had been easier then even he had expected. The stupid rookie had not bothered asking questions when he requested a ride back and had believed every one of his lies. Now that he was here he was going to find out just what was going on. He had expected hostility when dealing with Spike's group but they seemed bound and determined to keep him away from their ship. He knew there was a specific reason for this and if they were going through that much trouble to keep him away it must be something important. He was able to get two steps inside the hangar before he heard something.
"Stop." It was said in an almost neutral tone but there was no question it was a command. Vicious also recognized the voice and knew just who, or rather what, had just said it. Sure enough his path was immediately blocked by a Terminator.
Arnold had heard a craft land on the deck outside and he was able to hear the footsteps of the humans getting off the craft. Most of them were walking away from the hangar but one was heading right for it. Arnold moved to intercept the intruder and when he entered the hangar Arnold was able to identify who it was. Vicious, an enforcer for the Red Dragon syndicate and their contact from within the organization. He also knew that even though Vicious was helping the Bebop crew they regarded him as an enemy, not a true ally. He ordered Vicious to stop and blocked his path so he could not go any deeper into the ship.
"You are not allowed in here." Arnold told Vicious. Vicious gave no outward signs of fear or anger, nor did his heart rate or respiration change.
"Well it seems Spike was able to find one of you mechanical freaks that Skynet somehow missed." He said in a voice that was as emotionless as Arnold's. "I'd never thought he would be working with one." Arnold did not respond and didn't move. Vicious narrowed his eyes. He had forgotten how difficult it was to deal with one of these things, but he had remembered something else about them. Something very important. "Do you know who I am?" He asked the robot.
"Yes." The Terminator replied.
"Then stand aside. I have business to conduct with those who are still on this ship."
"No." Arnold replied. Vicious was almost taken aback by this thing's apparently brazen attitude. All Terminators were supposed to obey the highest ranking Red Dragon operatives, but this one was defying him.
"I am your superior, and you will do as I command." Vicious said in a tone that would have made almost anybody else move aside because of pure fright. Arnold's face remained impassive and he made no motion to move out of Vicious' way.
"You are not my superior and I do not take orders from you." Arnold said, his voice still deadpan. Now Vicious' face showed anger. First that ISSP captain had dared to defy him and now a machine was doing the same. Vicious didn't know why this Terminator was acting like he did, but if it was trying to stop him from getting inside he was not the only secret this ship was hiding. Deciding that he had heard enough of the machine's back talk Vicious drew his sword and started to swing when an iron grip clamped down on the wrist that was holding the weapon. In a flash of speed that surprised even Vicious Arnold had caught his wrist mid-swing and stopped it. Vicious couldn't have known that Arnold had seen the footage of him fighting and how his sword was able to pierce T-800 armor. Arnold had known about the danger the second he had identified Vicious had had been watching the human's movements very carefully for any motion to draw the weapon. He had read Vicious correctly and was able to block the blow before it connected.
Vicious had little time to assess the situation as the grip on his wrist tightened and forced him to drop his sword. Once the weapon was dropped Arnold shoved Vicious to the floor. Vicious was up almost immediately but he found he was too slow and that Arnold was now holding his sword. He wondered if the machine was going to use the weapon when it grabbed both ends of the weapon and began to try and bend it. As Vicious watched the sword began to warp under the pressure Arnold was putting on it. The sword was made of the hardest metal man had ever encountered, one of alien origin and seemed to be indestructible. Arnold's endoskeleton was made of the same metal but he also possessed the most advanced hydraulics system known as well as knowledge on where to apply pressure in order to break the sword. The blade bent under the unrelenting pressure and with almost no warning broke with a snap that sounded like a rifle shot. Arnold dropped the two sword pieces and looked into the cold glare Vicious was giving him. Vicious began to shift his weight in order to dash past Arnold and the machine's response was to reach behind his back and draw out a pistol, which caused Vicious to stop. Not even he could avoid being shot at this range, and if Arnold fired Vicious would be dead before he would be able to hear the crack of the bullet.
"Get out." Arnold ordered. Vicious glared coldly at the Terminator for a moment before a humorless smile crept across his face.
"I don't believe Spike would have given you orders to kill someone in cold blood, not even me." He knew that because of two reasons. Spike still had a conscience when it came to killing people, but more importantly he wouldn't allow anyone but himself to kill Vicious. He was proven right when Arnold lowered the gun.
"You are correct. I cannot kill you." The machine stated. Vicious' grin widened slightly in victory.
CRACK CRACK
That grin of victory vanished into grimace of agony as Vicious clenched his teeth to keep from yelling in pain. Both his knees felt like they were on fire and he found himself unable to stand. When he hit the floor he instinctively grabbed his knees and both hands came away bloody. The damned machine had shot him in both knees without warning. Looking up at the machine with a glare of hatred he saw it calmly put his gun back.
"You'll live." Arnold told him. To Vicious it sounded like the machine almost regretted the fact that he couldn't kill him. Arnold picked up the two halves of the broken sword then turned and walked away. Vicious let out a growl of anger. He couldn't lay here helpless but his pride wouldn't allow him to crawl away in front of an enemy, even if he wasn't capable of walking. Before he could think of what he should do heavy footsteps were coming in his direction. The machine had come back and was now holding a long metal pipe. Vicious sneered at the robot, it seemed just because he wasn't able to kill him didn't mean that he couldn't beat Vicious to within an inch of his life. Instead of hitting him the machine grabbed Vicious by the back of his shirt and lifted him up into a sitting position. Then the machine actually bent the pipe around him and used it to pin his arms down, then twisted both ends together almost forming a knot! Remaining silent Arnold then dragged the still bleeding Vicious out of the hanger and back to the transport he came off of. He then roughly threw Vicious into the copilot's seat, much to the surprise of the pilot.
"Medic!" Jackson yelled and one of the ISSP officers started running towards the transport.
"He stays here." Arnold told Jackson who took one look at Vicious' shot out knees and the emotionless giant of a man who had just done it then swallowed nervously and nodded. Arnold turned and left without another word. Jackson turned to ask Vicious if he was all right but one look at his face made him wonder who he should be more afraid of, the big guy or the shot one.
When Arnold stepped back into the hangar the communicator in his pocket started beeping. He took it out and turned it on.
"Arnold I just heard gunfire coming from down there. What's going on?" Kyle asked.
"Someone was trying to enter the ship and I stopped him." Arnold answered.
"Who was it?" Kyle asked.
"Vicious." Arnold responded. Kyle was silent for a few minutes.
"Damn. I guess we should be glad you did shoot him. Is he going to try and come back?"
"No. I made sure he won't."
"Good, a problem like that is the last thing we need right now." Kyle broke the connection and up in the bridge he made sure his gun was ready and within easy reach.
Back in the hangar Arnold put his communicator back in his pocket as Miles and Ein walked over.
"Man I don't even want to think what would have happened if you weren't on our side. Lucky for us we have you around." Miles said. Ein barked in agreement, making both Miles and Arnold look down at him. Neither of them had expected Ein to ever act towards Arnold in a positive way. Guess that proved anything was possible.
Back at what was quickly becoming the main base for human forces most of the Earth's ISSP units had arrived and their leaders gathered in the main building. None were very happy to be there but they weren't trying to kill anyone either.
"The situation isn't good." West stated as he displayed a printout of the satellite pictures on a barely functioning projector they had managed to find in one of the office buildings. "These were taken no more then ten minutes ago, and as you can see Skynet is expecting an attack. We've spotted almost two thousand T-800s, or Terminator units, and over a hundred of what John refers to as T-70s."
"What's a T-70?" One of the unit commanders asked.
"In layman's terms they're eight foot tall giant robots with an aircraft cannon for an arm." John said. There was a murmur from the gathered commanders.
"And just how are we supposed to fight those things?" Another commander asked. "You guys were barely able to handle the little ones, and you were using rockets."
"Why do we have to fight at all?" A third commander asked. "Everyone saw you on TV, and now that they know they won't get vaporized if they get too close they can send the military in."
"Yeah." The first commander agreed. "Let them bomb these tin cans back to the stone age. Why should we put out butts on the line when we don't have to?" Several other commanders voiced their agreement. "I heard a rumor on the way here that there's suppose to be a response to you declaring marshal law."
"I wouldn't bet on that." Spike remarked. "They were will willing to leave helpless civilians behind you can bet leaving a bunch of dumb grunts behind isn't going to be that hard for them." Every member of ISSP except for West and Al gave Spike an angry glare, which he ignored.
"Speaking of civilians." Al spoke up. "We're keeping them to one specific section of town but things are starting to get weird."
"Weird?" West asked. He was doubtful that after everything else that had happened what Al had to say would fit into the category of weird.
"Some of these civvies are just trying to find a safe place but most of them, they're loaded for bear. We had to reroute a sixteen wheeler that came in, the damn thing was loaded with missiles and explosives. And one of them claimed to know John."
"Wait a minute." John interrupted. "Somebody said they knew me?"
"Yeah some older guy." Al said.
"With his arm bandaged?" John asked. Al looked surprised but he nodded. "Did he say his name was Matt?"
"Yeah he did. You do know him?"
"Yes I do know him you idiot!!" John shouted. "Why weren't we told earlier!?!"
"I thought he was just a bum that saw you on TV and thought he was trying something." Al responded.
"That 'bum' helped us hold off the second attack on the town and those rockets you saw were probably his." John said. "Go find him and bring him here, we need all the help we can get!" He made sure to put emphasis on the last phrase and Al moved to comply. When they had added everything up they had a little less then five hundred troops. They might have had superior firepower but Skynet would be able to overwhelm them by sheer numbers. As Al left the officer working the radio came in.
"Please tell me you have good news." West said.
"Afraid not sir. There's just been an announcement about our situation. The military has been authorized to come to Earth for the sole purpose of containment. Their orders are to stop anything going to or coming from Earth. They've also authorized the use of nuclear weapons to use against anything that can be a danger to any other planet."
"So much for the calvary." Spike grumbled.
"Is there anything else?" West asked.
"No sir." The radio officer answered.
"Dismissed." The radio operator left and before West could say anything the first ISSP commander spoke up.
"If we can talk to them when they get here…" He began.
"That won't work." West interrupted. "They won't listen to a thing we say, they'll be ordered not to. Like it or not gentlemen, we're on our own."
"Not quite on your own." A new voice said. Al entered the room with Matt following behind him. The ISSP commanders kept a wary eye on Matt. All of their experience with Earth people was limited to encountering them while chasing a fugitive, and it had never been friendly. Matt was able to sense the hostility and glared at the commanders. "Although you should count yourselves lucky. If it wasn't for John helping us before we would have kept as far away from you as possible." Several ISSP commanders started to grumble complaints.
"We'll be glad to accept any help you can offer." West said, trying to keep things from getting out of hand. "Al said something about a truck you had being loaded with rockets."
"That's mine all right." Matt said. "We got plenty more where they come from, and the people to use them. We might not matter much to any of you," He said with another glare at the ISSP commanders. "but we're not going to let a bunch of overgrown wind up toys take over our home."
"We're glad to have you aboard." West told him. "Just one question. How were you able to get your hands on that level of firepower so quickly?"
"Everybody knows that Earth people are the best scroungers in the solar system." Matt replied with a grin. There was a small laugh from the group.
"If that's all I'd like to get back to the business at hand. As I was telling everyone before you got here we've got a lot to do if we're going to beat this thing. Skynet is focusing mainly on defending its command center so our objective is two fold. One, we need to destroy as much of Skynet's forces as we can to at least keep it from attacking any other human settlements. Two, we need to get inside the command center and destroy Skynet itself."
"Hold it." The third ISSP commander interrupted. "You're telling us that we're supposed to fight our way through all of that," He motioned to the satellite picture. "And then get inside the command center where will have to fight who knows what? That's suicide."
"You're right." West answered. "That's why we're going to do it this way. The majority of our forces will engage Skynet's. While the defense force is occupied a small group armed with energy rifles provided by Spike and John will attempt to get inside the command center and blow it up. John, Spike and myself are going to be part of the team and I've handpicked the rest from my own squad. I trust there are no complaints about that?" There were none. Nobody was going to volunteer anyone for a one way mission that would probably fail. "In that case we should start to consider out battle plan." Over the next half-hour a basic plan was devised, units were given sectors to attack and methods for fighting the machines was explained. John and Spike explained things as best they could but there was one question they couldn't answer.
"What's that thing?" One of the ISSP commanders asked and pointed at an odd looking structure that was near the command center.
"We don't know." John answered. "Our best guess is that it's either a communication or gun platform. We'll have to deal with it once we get there."
"Are there any other questions?" West asked. There were none. "I know not all of you agree with this but it's either this or wait for Skynet to kill us. You all have your orders. Get you units ready to move out as soon as I give the order. Good luck and lets kick some Terminator ass." The other commands stood and left, each keeping their thoughts to themselves.
"You know Spike I'm kind of surprised that you'd want to be part of the command center team. I would have thought you would have wanted to provide air cover in the Swordfish." John said as the three of them walked out of the building.
"If you're going to go you might as well go out in a blaze of glory." Spike responded with a shrug.
"Now there's a surprise. Spike wanting to put himself in the most dangerous situation possible." A familiar voice said.
"Jet. When did you get here?" John asked.
"A while ago." Jet answered. "West radioed us on our way here and told us what you guys were planning. It sounds crazy but we couldn't think of anything else so here we are."
"So where's Faye and Doohan?" Spike asked.
"Faye is making sure no one touches the Red Tail without her permission, and Doohan is giving the squad West selected instructions on how to operate the plasma rifles. That reminds me…" He handed West and John a loaded plasma rifle and gave Spike and West a second clip. "They manage to recharge the clips you guys had?"
"No problem." John answered. "I should count myself lucky that the clip wasn't damaged when I shattered the gun."
"So why are you coming along Jet?" Spike asked. "The Hammerhead isn't built for fighting."
"After the improvements Doohan gave it you'd be surprised." Jet answered. After giving West a quick lesson on how to use the plasma rifle they seemed to be ready.
"Is there anything we're forgetting?" West asked.
"You're damn right there's something you're forgetting!!" A woman shouted. The three of them turned around and saw Mary storming towards them. "What's the big idea of trying to leave without us!?" She demanded.
"Mary this isn't like last time. We can't guarantee your protection." West told her.
"I'm not going to miss the biggest story in human history just because you think I can't look after myself!" Mary shot back. "You can either take us with you or we'll follow you in our ship." She threatened.
"Willing to die for her work. A sign of a true professional." Spike remarked.
"People should see what's about to happen." John added. West looked from Spike to John, then over to Jet, who just shrugged.
"Fine." He relented, knowing they didn't have time for this. "Take your cameraman and go find Captain Belkin. Tell him I gave you permission to go with us. If you miss your ride you're stuck here. Got it?" His question was wasted as Mary was already running to get her cameraman. "Guess so." He turned to the others. "Well I guess this is it. I hope we're able to talk about this when it's all over but …."
"Don't." Jet interrupted. "You'll just jinx it by saying that. Let's just go and let the chips fall were they may." The others decided that was good enough and they spilt up, Jet headed towards the Hammerhead while Spike, John and West headed towards the rest of the command center assault team. After getting last minute orders they boarded a transport. The transport lifted off and headed in the direction of Cheyenne Mountain. It was soon joined by dozens of others, in addition to a convoy that followed them on the ground.
On the Bebop Kyle watched them leave through the satellite connection Ed had set up.
"Well they're going." He said as he watched the stream of vehicles leave the town. He had also heard the decision to blockade Earth and was sure no help was coming. With the civilians the humans now had a substantially larger force then before and compared to Skynet they did have superior firepower, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't be enough.
"Don't worry. Ed has secret weapon." Ed declared with the confidence that came with youth, …or was it insanity? Kyle found himself hoping that Ed wasn't kidding. They needed every trick they could get their hands on if they were going to win this.
At the same time Skynet was also watching the convoy of humans head in his direction through a different satellite. There were no reinforcements that could intercept the humans before they got to the command center so the forces that had already arrived dug in and waited for the attack. Skynet was unable to calculate which side would be victorious when the battle was over but he was determined to kill as many of the filthy humans as possible.
The storm system West had noticed before continued to travel north, headed for the same destination as the humans were. There was no better way to symbolize what was about to happen.