Chapter 797

Dull Thud

Cammy made a choice to face the approaching HK Track head on. She'd already disabled one HK Track and the second one would come around the corner in seconds. She would take it as it rounded the corner. She headed that way at full speed. She would try and surprise it. She thought if it came close around the corner she could dodge past it and then get in back of it. It seemed like the best option out of a list of bad options.

Ally saw the HK Track was going after Cammy around the corner from her. The HK Track could move with good speed and seemed more agile than it looked. It took advantage of both of those features.

The HK Track was about to make the turn. Ally went over the side of the roof and landed right in back of it. The HK Track instantly detected a threat. It started to swing around as soon as she landed.

The HK Track slammed into Ally as it rapidly turned. It was able to pivot around on one track in the blink of an eye. The impact sent her Taser flying. She rolled over and came up with her M4.

Cammy heard some commotion as she approached the corner. She didn't pause to glance around it to see what was happening. She came around it at full speed and saw right away that Ally was in trouble. The HK Track currently faced away from her as it attempted engage Ally.

Ally was about to pull the trigger when Cammy pounced on its back.

Cammy continued at her same speed and jumped onto the back of the HK Track. It spun back around to try to throw her off of it but she had a firm grip on it.

The HK Track swung wildly around as it tried to face her but it wasn't fast enough. Cammy was locked on its back.

Cammy struggled to hang onto the back of the HK Track as it thrashed around. It spun again and fired its minigun. It evidently wanted to attack its original target which was Ally.

Ally grabbed her Taser and dodged out of the way as the HK Track fired where she'd been a second ago. It quickly readjusted as it acquired her new position and the minigun zeroed in on her. She expected to get lit up. She watched with concern as the barrels on the minigun made a slight movement. It appeared it was about to fire and she was out in the open. She knew this close to the minigun it wasn't going to make any difference whether she had clothes on or not. She was going to get chewed up.

Then the HK Track just stopped doing everything.

Cammy was able use her Taser on the HK Track.

Ally quickly looked down at her sheath to see if she'd taken any damage. It was easy for her to look for damage because she was still naked.

"That was a close one." Ally said.

Cammy thought there'd been more than a few close ones in the last thirty seconds. She was aware she'd prevented Ally from being blasted by the minigun. She was also aware that If Ally hadn't acted that she more than likely would have been the one who was blasted by the minigun when the HK Track came around the corner. As it was, it was a close one for both of them but they both emerged unscathed from the encounter, at least this one. It seemed that the activity at this location was far from wrapped up.

"If it would have made it around the corner it would have lit me up." Cammy said. "Your quick action saved me a lot of damage."

They received more bad news from John Henry.

"We have two hostile HK drones headed our direction." Ally said.

Cammy wanted to get some air defense set up. She wanted to 'draft' the HK Tracks that they'd just deactivated. They would make good recruits for the Resistance team. That was provided they had enough time to get them reprogrammed and ready for service against their former owner. She'd already gone through this procedure several times at two different locations where she'd encountered HK equipment.

"Let's see if we can get the HK Tracks to help us then." Cammy said. "Hurry up and start reprogramming this one. I'll work on the other one."

Suddenly, it sounded like they'd just developed a new problem. It sounded like a lot of them too. From the interior of the structure they heard a loud 'screeching' and giant 'clang'. There were more metal crashing sounds that came from inside. There was a short burst of minigun fire from inside the building. It was followed by an incredibly long burst of minigun fire after that. There were more metal crashing sounds from inside the building as well.

They knew Sheila must be taking Hell inside the building. They needed to get some ground fire ready to combat the approaching HK drones or they were all going to be wiped out.

Cammy and Ally continued their reprogramming. They both wanted to assist Sheila but they needed to get the HK Tracks ready first. They were aware the helicopters were still heading toward them to back them up. They needed to protect those assets.

Seconds Earlier:

Sheila was about to check and see what was inside the boxcars. The doors on the other side of the boxcars were welded closed. The doors that faced the loading dock weren't.

She received the report of hostile HK drones on the way. There was a screeching noise and one of the boxcar doors started to open. She could hear clanking inside. There were HK Tracks in there. The boxcar door was shoved open so hard that it overran its stop and came off its track with a loud clang. The boxcar door crashed into the dock and bounced off of it before it impacted the ground. She heard a minigun fire outside and knew Cammy and Ally were having a more difficult time than planned. It looked like they were all going to have to fight.

Sheila saw one HK Track was about to emerge from inside the boxcar. She rushed over and shoved on the ramp in front of the boxcar door. She knocked it out of alignment. There was a burst of minigun fire that tore into the ramp, which was now angled off to the side. It was fired at her but she was already gone from that spot. It was a close one for her.

Without the ramp between the dock and the boxcar the HK Track that tried to exit the boxcar toppled over. It slammed into the dock at a crazy angle on its side with another loud crash. The minigun fired in a continuous burst. Sheila could see the barrels glow red hot and then white hot. There were ricochets flying in all directions as the minigun fired uncontrollably into the cement floor. The barrels were almost translucent from the heat when it ran out of ammunition. The overheated barrels continued to rotate in an attempt to fire ammunition that was no longer there. One of its treads spun wildly the entire time. The HK Track vibrated violently. It was a very surreal scene that all took place in the span of just a few seconds.

There was more clanking inside the boxcar. Another HK Track appeared. It too searched for a target.

Sheila was able to move out from cover once the first HK Track ran out of ammunition.

She noticed that the second HK Track was right at the edge of the boxcar door. She wanted to get its attention. She hoped that she could get an encore performance of what just happened to the last one that tried to exit the boxcar.

"Hey, I'm over here." Sheila said.

The HK Track tried to turn in her direction. One tread slipped off the floor of the boxcar into empty space. The HK Track teetered there before it fell out and landed on top of the other one. It rolled off and was wedged between the boxcar, the dumped over HK Track and the dock. It was still upright but at an angle. It was tightly wedged between the first HK Track and the boxcar. As it tried to move it pushed against the boxcar. The entire boxcar started to tilt off to the side as the HK Track attempted to free itself. The one track on the first dumped over HK Track continuing to spin wildly and intermittently. Sometimes between pauses the spinning track would change directions for a time. This was a scene like she never encountered before or even read about in any reports. It was highly bizarre.

Now there was sound that started to emit from the other boxcar. There was the sound of metal screeching. Sheila saw the door start to move on the second boxcar. It was given a shove and moved rapidly before it flew off of that boxcar as well. It flew past her and bounced off the dock. She actually needed to duck to avoid being struck by the flying door. It almost hit her. This was a worse scenario. There were HK drones inside of it and they'd begun to power up. She couldn't see them from where she was at but she could hear them. The HK Track that shoved the door off the second boxcar plunged over the side and slammed into the ground. She was very unsure what the HK Tracks were doing. There were three of them now that plummeted out the side of the boxcar doors with nowhere to go but down.

With the HK drones ready to fly, Sheila knew she needed cover fast. She really didn't know where the HK drones were going to go. There wasn't that much room in the interior of the building. She wasn't sure if they were going to crash into the walls or into each other. She could hear more than one of them power up. She felt like she was in some kind of a freak show. A quick look down at her naked sheath only seemed to confirm that idea. She didn't see any obvious damage when she looked at her sheath. With all the minigun fire that it happened within the confines of the interior, she thought that that was a wonder in itself.

Sheila went under the tilting boxcar as an HK drone flew out of the other boxcar. The wedged HK Track still pushed against the boxcar in an attempt to free itself. The boxcar that she'd taken shelter under continued to tilt. She was surprised that the HK Track was able to deliver that much force. She wouldn't want to be run over by one of them or pinned to a wall by one either. She tried to stay out of sight as best she could as the angle of the boxcar continued to tilt above her. At the rate it was moving above her, she began to wonder if it was going to tip over. She certainly didn't want to be underneath the boxcar if it ended up on its side. That was bound the cause major sheath damage if not permanently incapacitate her. A thought crossed her mind; she hoped that Ally would at least salvage her rings and wear them in her honor if she was terminated.

The HK drone raced around in a tight circle in the limited space inside the building. The noise was very loud in the confined space. It was more like the HK drone spun around in a wild hover. There was very little room for it to maneuver. It tried to search for a target. There was nowhere for it to go. It seemed highly agitated and completely unstable as it faced its current predicament. It reminded her of images of a wild animal that had just been trapped.

Sheila saw her cover rapidly disappear the more the boxcar continued tilt. The HK Track still struggled frantically to free itself. With a shrieking of metal the boxcar she was under fell over on its side. It slammed into the wall of the building and jammed at an angle. It started to slide down slowly in little jolts. She knew that she needed some new cover fast. It appeared if the boxcar continued to slide like it was doing, it was going to smash her up against the loading dock when it finally made its way to the floor.

The movement of the boxcar as it fell against the wall was enough to free the second HK Track and it was able to land on its treads and start moving. Sheila moved quickly under the second boxcar. She was actually surprised the HK drone hadn't taken a shot at her. She didn't realize it frantically searched for a way out of the building. It decided to make its own exit. It was a good thing for her it was preoccupied. There was an explosion above her and the HK drone blew a hole in the ceiling and flew out of the building. She was pretty sure that was going to be bad news for Cammy and Ally if they were both still in the fight.

The HK Track must have spotted her move under the second box car. It fired on her position. The rounds impacted into and around the 'truck' or wheel assembly which the boxcar rode on. That absorbed and deflected most of the rounds. There were sparks and ricochets that flew in all directions as the projectiles impacted against the steel wheels and truck assembly.

She actually began to feel a few impacts against her sheath. The only positive thing about that was the projectiles had already impacted against other objects or surfaces two or three times before they reached her. They didn't hit with enough force to even damage her sheath. That was a good thing based upon where some of them impacted. She actually needed to check to see if both of her lower rings were still there at one point.

There was a second HK drone in the boxcar she was currently was under as well. It too powered up and flew out. Like the first one, it flew wildly around the limited space of the interior of the building as it searched for a target and then it flew out through the hole in the roof.

The HK Track knew Sheila was under the second boxcar. The HK Track rammed into the end of the boxcar she was under and started shoving it backward, toward the closed door that led to the outside.

At that point the other boxcar that leaned against the wall slipped all the way over with a giant thud and ground shaking impact. It skidded back across the railroad tracks sideways. It fell completely onto its side. It crushed the first HK Track that was still struggling against the dock. The one track still spun wildly on it as it was crushed flat up against the dock.

She started to worry about the HK Track's power cell. She hoped it wasn't damaged. If it were to rupture and explode where it was at, it was bound to damage her severely even as she sought refuge under the moving boxcar. She hoped that the HK Track that currently shoved the boxcar would absorb most of that blast.

Cammy and Ally worked to get the HK Tracks reprogrammed. They were aware of all the commotion inside the building and the weapons fire. They also heard the HK drones power up. They really didn't know what was going on in there especially with such a limited space. They wondered where the HK drones were supposed to go.

Cammy finished with the basic programming just as there was an explosion up on the roof of the building and an HK drone flew out.

It screamed over her position and flew out a way as it gained altitude. It turned back toward her and the HK Track and started to make an attack run.

''Go get 'em, tiger." Cammy said as the HK Track sprang into life.

Cammy dodged around the corner as the two Skynet machines fought each other. It was a very surreal scene. She wasn't sure which one of them was going to come out the victor.

Ally glanced up from the HK Track that she worked on to reprogram.

"I'm almost done." Ally said.

No sooner than she spoke, when a second HK drone burst out of the hole in the roof.

There was more minigun fire inside the building, followed by a very loud metallic crash that shook the ground. They both wondered what made an impact that big. They knew it was something big but didn't figure on it being one of the boxcars. They didn't know what Sheila faced inside the building.

Cammy listened as the two Skynet machines fought each other. She was about to peek around the corner when a large object came cartwheeling past her. She quickly ducked back around the corner. It was the first HK drone. The reprogrammed HK Track shot it down.

"Where did the other one go?" Cammy asked.

Ally wasn't sure. She only had a brief glance at it before it disappeared.

"It went to the backside of the building from us, I think." Ally said. "It's using the building for cover."

Cammy didn't need to think about it for very long. It sounded like a sucker play and they were the suckers.

"It is going to come around the back corner and light us up." Cammy said. "Quick, let's go back this way."

No sooner than they'd moved around the side of the building than the HK drone came low around the corner and fired on the HK Track. The HK Track was only able to get a short burst of minigun fire off before it was destroyed. It scored a hit on one of the HK drones power plants before it was terminated. The damaged power plant began to spark.

As they came around the corner, Cammy and Ally saw the HK Track that'd shot down the first HK drone was severely damaged. It didn't appear it was going to be able to help them in the condition that it was in.

"That thing is wasted." Ally said.

They both realized that they could look like that right now. If they weren't able to defeat the second HK drone, they were still going to look like that.

Cammy saw the ladder to the roof and started to climb it. She wanted Ally to get away.

"Make a break for it." Cammy said. "I'm going to try something when the HK drone comes around the corner."

Ally wasn't really sure what Cammy was going to do from where she was at. She continued on and sought cover around the corner.

The HK drone came around the corner and fired at the damaged HK Track. The HK Track fired back. It damaged the other power plant before it fell silent. Cammy leaped from the ladder and landed on the back of the low flying and damaged HK drone. It struggled for altitude. She knew that she needed to act fast and get off of it before the HK drone was able to gain too much altitude.

Cammy armed a Thermite grenade and wedged it in between one of the damaged power plants and the superstructure. She leaped off it as the HK drone tried to climb. She fell about thirty five feet but impacted on the soil and grass. It wasn't too hard of a landing.

The HK drone turned to face Cammy as she scrambled to her feet. The Thermite grenade exploded and the HK drone dropped like a rock. It impacted the ground with a dull thud as it dug a small furrow in the ground.

Cammy moved over and joined Ally along the side of the building.

Ally looked Cammy over to make sure that she wasn't damaged after she jumped off the HK drone.

"That was quite a stunt." Ally said.

Cammy didn't think it was a big deal. She needed to do something and that seemed like the ting to do. She quickly looked over Ally for any damages. They would be easy to spot in her current nearly nude condition.

"Somehow I think it would have looked more impressive if you'd done it dressed like that. You could be 'The Flying Nude Girl' at the circus. I'm sure the 'Big Top' would be full for every performance. I'd pay to see it." Cammy said. "We need to help Sheila."

The two Metal girls ran back to the other side where the railroad tracks entered into the building. There was a giant door that was closed. As they looked at it, the door started to bulge. There was a screeching and tearing metal sound. The door tore loose and came crashing down toward them. They scrambled to opposite sides of the railroad siding to avoid it. The boxcar was being pushed out somehow. As soon as the front 'truck' cleared the outside wall, Sheila moved out from under the boxcar and off to the side.

"There is an HK Track pushing this thing." Sheila said. "It's very determined to get me."

There were some new noises that came from inside the boxcar now.

"There may be more of either kind of HK inside of this one as well." Sheila said. "I already watched one HK Track fall out of it and two HK drones fly out of it. I have no idea what else is inside of it but it sounds like it wants to come out."

The boxcar continued on its path out of the building as the HK Track continued to shove it. They didn't want the HK Track to exit the building any more than they wanted any more of the HK equipment inside the boxcar to become active. They needed to think a a way to stop either from happening. They needed to think fast

Is There Anything Else

I often wonder
What's it all about
Behind my back
I know they flout

I go through the motions
Day after day
The same events
Are what always replay

Even if it's different
What really changes
A slap in the face
More heated exchanges

There should be more
There never seems to be
There are no chains
But I'm not free

As I look around
I check with stealth
I can't help but wonder
Is there anything else

Nobody