Chapter 480

Temporal Tyrant

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Cameron's Future Timeline:

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Cameron went to search for Skynet. She found a shaft that appeared to lead to a lower level. It was in a sealed off passageway. Someone wanted this area hidden. It was. The electrical hum was strong as she stood at the rim of the shaft. She jumped to the braided steel cable and began to lower herself down, hand over hand. She kept accurate calculations as she descended down the shaft on the cable. It was fast going.

She saw the open top 'elevator' at the bottom. She slowed her decent. In the open top elevator was a Terminator. He appeared inactive. He was in standby. Cameron figured if anyone called the 'elevator' up that they would have been met by this Terminator. He was the gate keeper.

Cameron entered a larger cavern. She jumped off to the side to avoid him for now. She could rip his head off before he activated. She decided she may do that anyway. She didn't have a knife to cut his scalp open. She must have lost hers during the fight with the Terminator whose power cell overloaded. She came across two different paths to follow at the base of the shaft.

There was a Terminator in standby at the opening for each one. She moved silently past the Terminator and went down the path. The hum grew louder. It would be the power source. She approached the cavern it was in. It was unlike anything she'd seen before in size or scale. She looked at it carefully. This would be good to have at her base or even the Resistance base. It reminded her of a giant power cell. She was unsure how it worked but knew it would blow up like a volcano erupting. If she couldn't get the 'package' down to where she was at right now, this giant power cell should do the trick as it exploded. It generated a lot of heat. It seemed to be functioning at a very high output level. It made her wonder what else was going on around there.

Cameron returned to the second divergent path. She moved around the Terminator and followed it to what appeared to be the 'Clean Room'. She stayed outside. She knew that Skynet was active. She didn't want to tip her hand yet. She barely peeked around the corner. This was 'a Skynet' all right but was it the parent one?

She would have to communicate with it to see. She wanted the package first. She was going to level this place. She took one more peek to make her calculations. She couldn't view all of the 'Clean Room' to see what else was in there. She didn't want to be detected until she was able to have the 'package' ready for detonation. No one was going to stop her. That would be the 'grand finally', one way or another, when that happened.

Cameron removed the fuses from both of her grenades and shortened them to explode as soon as the spoon was released. She carefully tied them to the boots of the Terminators on the two paths. When they moved, they would blow themselves up. One would blow up with a plasma grenade, the other one with a Thermite grenade.

She would've liked to have one more grenade for the Terminator in the 'elevator'. She saw something else before she started down the shaft that she could use on him. There were several large boulders. She would push those down the shaft. They should crush him or damage him enough that he wouldn't be able to fight.

Cameron checked her calculations for distance and depth on the way back up the cable to the top of the shaft. Everything double checked out the same. She really didn't know how things would play out. Time would tell.

She checked her time. The 'package' should arrive in one hour and three minutes. She needed to get back up to the top and find Cammy and Savannah.

Cameron knew once the 'package' arrived there would be a battle as soon as she started to move it through the Skynet complex and down the blind corridor.

This was going to turn into a shooting zone in a very short while. Cameron knew she needed to get Savannah out of here. Between the giant power cell and the 'package', she was going to bring the place down. The resulting 'earthquake' should collapse everything there.

If she knew Savannah was out right now she would've stayed down there and used the Thermite and plasma grenades on the giant power cell when she was there. She didn't know where Savannah was at. Savannah was there to make sure she got out. It did make her rethink a few things. She doubted in the end that it would make a difference. This looked like a one way ticket.

Savannah found it even more difficult to move in the cramped space. The heat was more oppressive as well. She knew she wasn't going to be able to go much farther. There wasn't enough room. She could see the advantage her 'mother' would have in a situation like this.

She was sluggish and it was hard to think. She was at the end of the line. She could not physically fit any more. She decided to turn around and go back to the power junction where the electrical lines split and use the Thermite grenade there. It would damage more of the infrastructure. She would have a chance to get out that way. If she blew it where she was at right now, she knew she would die there. The heat was so oppressive now she even questioned her ability to get back to the junction.

After what she'd previously said to Cameron and Cammy, she saw how sometimes when the choice has to be made that there is no choice. There's only what needs to be done right then. She knew that Cameron always made the hard choice when it was necessary. Her love for Cameron grew to know that Cameron made those choices with little to no hope of surviving. Cameron did what she needed to do, when she needed to do it. The cards would land, where they fell.

The heat seemed to intensify. It drained her of all her reserves. She still pushed on. She moved back up the direction she'd come from. This was even harder than it was going down. It became even more oppressive. With every step back up, the heat seemed worse. She wished she still carried her canteen with her. She hadn't expected to face heat this severe. She reached the conclusion if she could not get out before she passed out, that she would use the Thermite grenade anyway.

Her vision blurred as she staggered back up. Her entire body felt like it weighed a ton. She'd fallen down several times. She made peace with the fact she was finished. She would continue until she dropped. She would do her duty and hurt Skynet as much as she could. Her goal was the junction. It was what kept her going.

She fell to the ground again. She didn't trip on anything either. She was very weak and depleted. She touched the Thermite grenade.

"You will be what kills me." Savannah said out loud to herself.

She would make sure her head was next to it when it exploded….

It wouldn't be much longer. If she fell again that was it. She knew she couldn't get back up. She staggered along. It was only her hope to get Cameron out that allowed her body to even move.

Love was what propelled her.

"When you fall, pull the pin." Savannah softly said out loud to herself.

She repeated it with each step.

Step….

"When you fall, pull the pin."

Step….

"When you fall, pull the pin."

Step….

"When you fall, pull the pin."

Step….

"When you fall, pull the pin."

She needed to make her death count.

After Cammy rigged the booby trap with the plasma grenade, she moved rapidly along the ever increasingly hot cables after Savannah.

She waited for the explosion to come from her plasma grenade booby trap. She was surprised it hadn't been triggered yet. She wondered if it would send a surge of energy through the cable. That surge might shut her down There was nowhere to go right now. She needed to follow the cable through the crawlway.

Cammy focused on one goal. It was to find Savannah. She noted the temperature would be very hot for Savannah. It seemed that since the TDE stopped working, the power cables were hotter, not colder. Skynet must be trying to force enough energy through them in a failed attempt to make the TDE work. That wouldn't fix the problem. The encryption was the problem.

She possessed all the files from when Cameron tried everything herself to get around that problem. She knew that more power wasn't going to make it work. None of it worked for Cameron. She knew Skynet would do no better. River always told Cameron it would unlock, when it was time. Nobody knew what that meant. Not even River knew. Somehow it was all done in the past when Cameron arrived in 1999. It was probably on at least her second time around. None of them knew. Everything was blocked.

Cammy spotted a movement of a light up ahead.

Maybe this was the proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel'.

She also needed to consider that it could be a Skynet maintenance crew. She did hear someone call for one.

She would need to take them down if it was. If one of them had a weapon she would go for that one first. There could be Terminators with them. If there was more than one she would be outmatched.

Cammy really wished she hadn't needed to ditch her plasma rifle. Savannah needed her. She didn't need it. She was a weapon.

Savannah felt drained. The heat was so intense. She dropped her light. She was down on her knees. She was done. She fumbled for the Thermite grenade. She knew she needed to do this now. She knew she was about to blackout. Her vision began to fade to black. She held the Thermite grenade in her hand now. She grasped the pin. She was finished.

"When you fall, pull the pin." Savannah said one last time.

Cammy was worried about Savannah. She didn't see anyone in front of her as she hurried. There was no work crew. She passed a power junction. One set of cables ran in the direction the hanger was.

"Savannah." Cammy called out. "Savannah, wait for me."

It seemed even hotter now. She knew the heat was literally killing Savannah. She wondered if the power cable were going to rupture any second. That could terminate her.

Savannah started to pull the pin all the way out on the Thermite grenade.

An 'angel' called to her.

"Savannah." A voice drifted down to her. "Savannah, wait for me."

Savannah felt a surge of strength. It wasn't an angel. It was Cammy. It was her lover.

"Cammy." Savannah gasped. "Hurry, I need you."

Savannah let go of the pin. She decided not to pull it. She might hurt Cammy if she did. The darkness gripped her. It was so hot.

Cammy moved at full speed when she heard Savannah call for her.

"Cammy." Savannah gasped. "Hurry, I need you."

Cammy knew Savannah must be in a bad way to say that.

"I'm almost there, Savannah." Cammy said. "Hang on. I have your water."

In seconds Cammy reached her.

Savannah was on her feet. She looked terrible and very shaky.

"Cammy…." Savannah gasped. "It's too narrow. I couldn't make it. I tried. I tried real hard, Cammy."

Cammy didn't need to scan Savannah to see she was in a bad way. She was surprised she was still standing. She dumped some of the water from the canteen on Savannah's face to cool it.

Savannah felt slightly rejuvenated. It wasn't from the water. It was because Cammy was there; Cammy came for her to save her. She picked up her light and the Thermite grenade.

Cammy went back up at full speed carrying Savannah in her arms. She rapidly moved Savannah away from where she was. As soon as she got to the electrical junction she headed down the branch toward the hanger. It was much cooler in that direction. She dumped some more water on Savannah's face and made her drink a few sips.

Savannah began to feel better every second. She knew Cammy saved her life.

"Thanks, Cammy." Savannah said. "I was finished. I was about to die."

Cammy understood what Savannah meant. It wasn't from the heat. She saw the Thermite grenade with the pin half way out. It was clear what Savannah was about to do. She didn't want to mention that. She wouldn't tell anyone about that.

"It didn't look good." Cammy said as she scanned Savannah. "You should be alright soon. You were overheating."

Savannah wanted Cammy to know the truth. She understood everything better. Her mind was clear now.

"Cammy, I almost used the Thermite grenade…." Savannah said. "I understand Cameron now. I understand. I can't ever be upset at her for what she NEEDS to do."

Cammy didn't like it but sometimes someone needed to make a 'hard call'.

"Sometimes there's no choice." Cammy said.

Savannah felt guilty for some of her past actions or mean comments. She looked Cammy in the face.

"I understand." Savannah said. "I'm sorry for the times I got mad at you, Cameron - Cammy."

Cammy was deeply touched. She was 'Cameron' but modified for Savannah instead of John.

"It's just, Cammy, honey." Cammy said. "You know that's all I can be for you. Let me carry you for awhile.

Savannah straightened up and took a step.

"I can hack it." Savannah said. "Let's go."

Cammy felt such love for Savannah. She was so close to losing her.

"Sure you can, Savannah. You're invincible." Cammy said and scooped Savannah up in her arms again.

Savannah didn't protest. She liked being this close to Cammy in a non sexual way. She gave Cammy a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." Savannah whispered in Cammy's ear.

Cammy smiled. Savannah was the greatest. She was ready to do her duty right to the end.

She headed toward what she calculated should be the hanger as they followed the power line in the darkness. She knew there must be another way down to the power source. Maybe Cameron found it. She knew that Cameron wouldn't blow it up until she knew Savannah was safe. Savannah was there to keep Cameron alive.

Cameron headed back the way she'd come. When she reached the sealed wall she checked its construction again. A missile or two should open the 'corridor' back up fast. It was a straight shot to the shaft.

She typed instructions as fast as she could to send out in another burst transmission. She gave specific instructions and maneuvers that were to be performed. The armed drone would also make an entrance, this time it would lead.

Everything was ready to go. She just needed to get the final signal out.

Cammy and Savannah followed the power cable to the hanger deck.

"This should be the hanger." Cammy said.

Savannah didn't want to turn on her light.

"I can't see." Savannah said.

Cammy didn't detect anyone around them.

"There is nothing around us but rock." Cammy said.

Savannah turned the light back on. She could see a hatch much like the one that she entered into the crawlway space by the TDE.

"There's our way out." Savannah said. "Listen first to make sure it's clear."

She turned the light off.

Cammy listened for thirty second. All she could hear was Savannah's heartbeat behind her. It was a beautiful sound. They exited into the hanger through an access panel.

Savannah noticed something right away.

"It looks like trouble." Savannah said.

Cammy looked around. There was a red light flashing, everyone was gone from the area. That should be for the TDE. Maybe Cameron ran into trouble somewhere.

"It's not for us." Cammy said.

Savannah hoped to find Cameron there. She didn't see her.

"Will Cameron meet us here?" Savannah asked.

Savannah was on her feet now. Her clothes were soaked with sweat. Now that she was away from that oppressive heat everything was back to normal. At least as normal as it could be under the circumstances.

Cammy really didn't know. She did know that they needed some firepower.

"I hope so." Cammy said. "I need to reprogram some of these HK drones here. I think we'll need all the help we can get."

Savannah looked at all the drones.

"Tell me what to do…." Savannah said. "I can help…."

Cammy sure hoped Cameron knew what she was doing. She knew Savannah wouldn't back down if push came to shove. She'd already witnessed Savannah's resolve to get the job done. It was doubtful if any of them would be able to get out of this mess alive.

Savannah knew they were in deep trouble. They'd lost contact with Cameron and didn't know her whereabouts. She knew they needed to stop Skynet any way they could. She was pretty sure at this point; none of them would get out of there alive.

Tyrant

There are those who think
That might makes right
They could be surprised
When someone puts up a fight

Not everyone will roll over
Some will always stand up
Not everyone is willing
To drink from the same cup

No one likes a bully
They're actually shallow and small
The bigger the bluster
The longer will be the fall

When it all hits the fan
Push will come to shove
It all falls on one's back
There's no help from above

No one takes it seriously
When they hear someone rant
But make no mistake
Everyone hates a tyrant

Nobody