Chapter 816

Stop This

Ally drove with Sheila in the front seat next to her. Savannah sat between Cammy and Cameron in the back seat of the SUV. They'd dumped the box truck earlier. Savannah was silent. She finally reached out and took both Cameron's hand and Cammy's hand.

They were on their way to the new target area that was determined from the information gleaned from the Grays that were questioned and terminated. They didn't know what they were about to face but they did know this group was a threat if one of them thought they recognized some version of 'Savannah Weaver' whether it was a human or a cyborg.

Savannah was troubled at what she'd witnessed with the dead Grays. She tried to tell herself they won and the Grays lost but it didn't seem to help much. She gave her approval to 'play rough' to get the information. She seemed to be more willing to look the other way. She wanted Skynet stopped. She didn't like the threat that the Young family faced. The fact that the Gray recognized Hanna from the future actually indicated it was some version of herself, if not her specifically that he'd referred to. The run-in with the Fanatics that they'd recently experienced didn't help ease her mind any. She wasn't really sure to be referenced to as 'The Redheaded Witch' was anything good, even if it's what the Fanatics and Skynet feared. Why did everything need to revolve around her? She was nobody. She was just a teenage girl.

"I hate Skynet." Savannah said.

Cameron gave Savannah's hand a gentle squeeze.

"We all do." Cameron said.

Ally glanced back over her shoulder. She'd just received an update from the Command Center.

"John Henry just updated me." Ally said. "We will reach the target area in a few minutes."

Savannah was sure they were headed for combat soon. They didn't have much intel and there was no recon. She would like to know a little bit more before they went in blindly to an unknown situation. She wondered if they would have some additional forces to back them up. Currently there are only five of them.

"Who else will be there?" Savannah asked.

Cameron was updated from the Young bunker earlier.

"Anna, Hanna and Holly will be coming." Cameron said. "This is personal for them. They didn't like being targeted."

That was a feeling that Savannah could understand well. She felt that was exactly what was just done to her specifically. She was a little concerned about the human girls at the Young residence.

"What about Young Allison and Summer? Who's watching them?" Savannah asked. "I'm worried about Claire and Allison too."

Cameron made sure that everything was covered when she found out the rest of the Metal girls we're going to come.

"I've provided them with extra Terminators." Cameron said. "The Metal girls asked to come. They're bringing their gear and vests."

Savannah quickly realized that this mission was now very much like the last mission they were on.

"So it's another 'Girl Power' mission." Savannah said. "I like it."

Cameron was aware that all of the Metal girls wanted to come. It didn't appear that the timing was going to work out right for that to happen.

"Gail and Cam both requested to come as well but we're going to get started before they could arrive." Cameron said. "They both asked to take up the manned drone."

Savannah was a little concerned about the use of drones during daylight. She looked at the satellite images on her phone again.

"Will we need drones?" Savannah asked. "It's the middle of the day. From what I've looked at on the satellite photos, I don't see a big target."

Cameron was aware that a book could seldom be judged by its cover. That often seemed to be the case when dealing with a Skynet facility. She'd often run into underground additions that were immensely troubling and a much bigger problem than they looked from the building on the surface. Often there was more than one target.

"Everything leads back to where we're going." Cameron said. "That may lead to additional targets. You know how these things unfold."

Cameron was well aware that these things always seemed to get bigger and expand on their own. Once they 'disturbed the woodwork', all the 'bugs' came out. Many of the operations they went on seemed to have several layers and a lot more players. It was most likely this one would be no different.

Savannah zoomed in on her image of the satellite map. She didn't want anyone caught in the crossfire that wasn't an enemy combatant.

"What about the surrounding buildings?" Savannah asked. "I want to avoid collateral damage."

Savannah was worried about a drone strike in the daylight and the damage that could be inflicted. She was worried some of the Metal girls would be a little less concerned about innocent humans who were in or near the target area.

Cameron learned there were ways to determine the extent of the Skynet operation before she arrived there. Utility usage of what was previously an empty building would pick up and expand from a certain date. They were often illegal hookups of the power directly from a power pole but the water usage would be much more complex to tap into so they simply turned the water on at the meter. If it was going to be a longer term operation then usually some type of dummy company would be created so that no red flags would be triggered for the use of the water and the power.

"John Henry checked the water and power usage records. Only the structure we've targeted has shown any activity in the last few weeks." Cameron said. "In fact, it only started two weeks ago."

That sounded like a very short time span to Savannah. Maybe it was only a few weeks in this location but what about prior to this?

"Where were they before?" Savannah asked. "I missed some of the interrogation."

That was one of the questions that Sheila pursued relentlessly. She knew that it made a difference.

"They claim they only arrived a few weeks ago." Sheila said. "At that point they told the truth. At least about that."

Cameron believed the store clerk referred to Future Savannah in his reference to his dealings with Hanna. That was the most logical choice so she'd pursued the time period when they'd left the future for the present. The time period that they left from the future was of great significance. It was an indicator of what went wrong or may go wrong.

"They were from a future which I believe is my future." Cameron said. "They were sent before the 'big bang'."

Savannah was glad Cameron and her missed the 'big bang'. That was a close one. She thought that's where she was going to die with Cameron. She really didn't feel afraid either. Cameron was stuck and she wasn't going to abandon her. Before they'd stopped Skynet, it sent dozens of Grays and Terminators on temporal missions. They put an end to all that. There was still a lot that could have happened before they stopped it all. She was aware that many of the things that they'd encountered in the past may have been sent out from that Skynet facility in the day or two before they were able to shut it down.

"We know they ran that TDE for several days." Savannah said.

Cameron possessed Cammy's files of what she did on her adventure into the future with Savannah and her.

"They confirmed what you and Cammy saw." Cameron said. "All the female Terminators were sent into the past. With their advanced programming they're better able to infiltrate. Being 'female' allows them to get 'closer' to male targets of influence. Male figures dominate the past."

Savannah knew that the infiltration technique only went so far. She'd often noticed that when a female Terminator didn't know she was being observed that there tended to be a blank look about their face. Very seldom was any expression or emotion on their face at that point.

"Unless they are running their infiltration programming all the time, they will still have the 'Terminator Look' when they think they're not being observed." Savannah said.

Ally quickly looked at Sheila before she turned and looked back at Savannah.

"Do we do that?" Ally asked.

Savannah could see that her comment made all of the Metal girls look a little nervous. She knew they all wanted to look and act like human females. She wanted to put their minds at ease.

"You've all advanced beyond that." Savannah said. "Your 'Neural Interface' with the human girls has allowed you to look 'human'."

Cammy wasn't sure that applied to all of them. She could think of at least one exception

"Is that all of us?" Cammy asked.

Savannah didn't want to seem like she pointed the finger at anyone. She also knew that the other Terminators weren't blind.

"Everyone does except Gail." Savannah said. "She needs a little more help."

Ally quickly looked over at Sheila.

"From what I see, you are 'giving' it to her." Ally said.

Cammy reached forward and smacked Ally in the back of the head.

"Hey." Ally said.

Everyone though Ally deserved that 'punishment' except Ally.

Savannah didn't want anyone to make a big deal about it or read anything more into it than was actually there. She wanted them to think about the assistance that she'd given them as well.

"I'm helping her." Savannah said. "I've 'helped' all of you in some way."

Cameron didn't like the nature of this conversation about Savannah. She didn't think that anyone should scrutinize or second guess Savannah's decisions.

"Stop this." Cameron said. "Savannah knows what's best for everyone."

Savannah felt Cameron's hand glitch. She gave it a gentle squeeze and it stopped. She looked at Cameron and smiled. The glassy eyed look in Cameron's eyes disappeared and she smiled back.

She wondered what troubled Cameron. She didn't want to say anything because it would probably only increase the glitch impulses that Cameron tried to suppress. She was sure it was Cameron remembering when she was stuck with Skynet and the armed nuclear weapon that almost ran out the clock. Cameron knew she was trapped there with no way out. What made it worse was that she was with Cameron on one of those occasions. A couple of others were questionable as to what would have happened as well.

The Metal girls from the Young residence hurried towards the new target site. They wanted to be part of the operation to bring down the Grays who'd specifically targeted them and their human charges.

"This is personal for us." Holly said.

Hanna was bothered by the verbal encounter.

"I don't like what he said about me." Hanna said.

Anna didn't like what was said about her or the visual experience that she'd needed to endure from the clerk.

"I don't either." Anna said. "The way he looked at me made me feel like the young actress in 'Pretty Baby', that movie from 1978, she was about twelve years old."

Hanna glanced over at Anna's now much depleted bust line.

"That is about the age you look now." Hanna said. "Maybe thirteen if you push out some."

Anna didn't agree with that at all. She'd stopped her age regression at what she felt was an older age than that. She knew that she wasn't the only one who could have taken the assignment that Cameron requested.

"Thanks a lot." Anna said. "You could have taken this position instead of me."

Hanna reached up and touched both of her breasts and she looked at Anna again. She strongly doubted that was the look that Claire would like. She figured that John might but she didn't think that Claire would like it. Claire seemed to like all of her physical attributes just the way they were.

"And look like THAT?" Hanna asked. "Hardly…."

Anna was very self conscious as she looked down the front of her sheath.

"That's it. I'm going to reverse my age regression." Anna said.

Holly remained silent for much of the drive. She didn't think there's anything wrong at all with the way Anna looked now.

"I think you look as beautiful as you always did." Holly said.

The glum look on Anna's face subsided some.

"Really?" Anna asked.

Holly smiled at Anna.

"Yes." Holly said. "Allison likes it too."

Anna perked up a little more.

"Which one?" Anna asked.

Holly didn't want to feel jealous but she always did a little bit. She knew that Allison always saw 'Vanna' on their first encounter whenever she looked at Anna now.

"MY Allison does." Holly said.

Anna was pleased to hear that but she would have hoped Young Allison felt the same way.

"What did Young Allison ever say?" Anna asked.

Holly heard the same thing from Young Allison for years.

"That she wished Savannah was the same age as her." Holly said.

They knew that really meant Young Allison wanted to be the same age as Savannah.

Anna touched her breasts. This time she pulled her top open as she looked down the front of her sheath. She knew that love was about sacrifice. She needed to sacrifice her teenage appearance that was identical to Savannah's appearance to assume her new appearance to better be with the Young Allison in the past.

"She'll be close soon." Anna said. "That's what this is all about."

Holly wanted to offer Anna a little confession.

"Thank you for doing what you are doing." Holly said. "Cameron asked me to do it if you didn't agree. I would have if Cameron insisted but I wouldn't have wanted to do it."

Hanna looked over and Holly's massive breasts.

"Built like you are, would it even be possible?" Hanna asked.

Holly looked down the front of her sheath before she looked back at Hanna.

"Cameron said she would need to 'modify' my sheath first." Holly said. "I would've done it to protect Young Allison."

Anna was sure Cameron asked Holly before she asked Hanna because she felt Holly would be a better protector of Young Allison since in reality she was also her Allison. She also understood what their mission was. Cameron made it very clear to her and everyone else.

"That is why I did it." Anna said. "It is our duty to protect John, the future and the 'Chosen Ones'."

Holly felt that their private discussion had gone on long enough. They needed to stay in contact with the rest of the team.

"We better get our coms turned on." Holly said.

The Metal girls all turned their coms back on.

"Great." Hanna said. "It looks like we missed something."

John Henry updated all of them.

The party hadn't yet started.

Anna wondered about her upcoming temporal mission. She was doing what Cameron asked her because she loved Young Allison and wanted her better protected. Now they were after a group of Grays that seemed to be after them specifically. Nobody puts them in a corner. There was some retribution that needed to be paid by the Grays. They were coming to collect.

John was very worried about the impending operation. There was little planning and no recon of any type. The Metal girls were going in blind. It seemed to be a standard operation practice for Cameron. It still put all the Metal girls at risk.

"I hate when she does this." John said.

John Henry felt with a second group of Metal girls on the way that they should have sufficient personnel for the target location.

"It looks like we have good coverage for the target." John Henry said.

John was aware that it often seemed like that going in. He also knew that it changed rather quickly more often than not.

"And then when it blows up into something more?" John asked.

John Henry tilted his head slightly.

"We deal with it." John Henry said.

John still viewed it as a risk that could be at least partially avoided.

"Cameron's risking damage to most of our female Terminators." John said.

John Henry didn't see it as a problem.

"That's their function." John Henry said. "They're Terminators."

John thought they were all much more than Terminators at this point in time. Most of them shared a human lover full time and 'got around' at other times. It seemed all of the females did, Metal or human. He was aware that there was a lot of 'bed hopping' at the Resistance base as well as at the Young residence whenever anyone could get out there. That seemed to happen quite frequently anyway. He figured that he'd better concentrate on what was about to come up instead of what he wished that he was a part of that he wasn't.

"I've seen them in action." John said. "They're ruthless."

John Henry knew that it was easy for someone to concentrate on the sheath and not what was inside of the sheath when it came to female Terminators. That was the whole point of female Terminators in the first place. They weren't supposed to look like threats. They were no less deadly than the male Terminators.

"That's the nature of the 'beast'." John Henry said.

John wondered where Cameron kept the other female Terminators they'd captured and what they were doing. Maybe they weren't even activated. Maybe she used them for missions of her own creation through CamNet.

"Where are all the other female Terminators at?" John asked. "The ones we've captured."

John Henry usually tried to avoid the subject.

"Cameron has them." John Henry said.

John wanted to know more.

"Do they work at her facility?" John asked.

John Henry knew that he was on shaky ground now.

"I don't believe so." John Henry said. "She just has them there."

John wanted to push the issue.

"Are they in standby or storage?" John asked.

John Henry glanced up at the security monitor. He wanted John to back off.

"Yes." John Henry said. "Cameron has forbidden any Terminators to talk about it."

John wondered what their current appearance was. He was sure that they'd all been Resequenced to females of Cameron's choosing.

"What's she planning?" John asked. "And when is she planning it for?"

John Henry didn't know nor did he want to know the answer to that question.

"I really don't know." John Henry said.

John shook his head slightly in disgust.

"I wonder if Cameron even does." John said.

John Henry believed that was a legitimate question.

"I really don't know that either." John Henry said.

John could tell John Henry didn't want to talk about it. Since John Henry said Cameron forbade them from talking about it, he didn't want to push it. There was no need to put John Henry into a jam with Cameron or CamNet later on.

"Where are we at on the current operation?" John asked.

John Henry monitored their progress.

"The two teams have linked up. They've acquired another vehicle and split into three teams." John Henry said. "Like you recommended."

That wasn't exactly John's recommendation. He preferred stronger groups for better protection.

"I'd rather have them as two teams of four." John said.

John Henry could only tell him what the current situation actually was.

"It is two teams of three and one team of two." John Henry said.

The look of disgust returned to John's face as he slowly shook his head from side to side.

"Don't tell me, the team of two is Cameron and Savannah." John said.

John Henry said nothing.

"Well?" John asked.

John Henry tilted his head slightly to the side.

"You said don't tell you." John Henry said.

John laughed.

John Henry wasn't sure why. He was worried about both Cameron and Savannah.

Cameron moved her team into position. She brought the building under her direct observation. There were Grays out in front of it. She watched them working. It was clear they were preparing to move out. More than likely the loss of contact with the store clerk and the team that was sent there to retrieve the girls was responsible for that.

"They're packing up." Cameron said.

Savannah could think of five reasons.

"They know something must have happened to their people." Savannah said. "They can't contact them and they haven't returned."

Cameron would have liked a Trojan Horse to approach the building.

"I wish we could have taken one of their vehicles with us." Cameron said. "I'd drive up to the front door with it."

Savannah knew that Cameron was steamed and wanted retribution.

"You would probably drive through the front door." Savannah said.

Cameron tilted her head slightly.

Savannah saw the idea intrigued Cameron. Now she was afraid she may have given Cameron a new idea, a bad idea at that.

"I was just joking." Savannah said.

Cameron started walking toward the pick up truck that Hanna's team acquired on the way to meet them.

Savannah didn't like what she saw might be about to happen.

"Cameron." Savannah said. "I don't want you to do that."

Cameron paused and looked back.

"What?" Cameron asked. "I was just thinking."

Savannah wanted to make her intent clear.

"That was a joke more than an idea." Savannah said.

Cameron saw it as an idea more than she did as a joke.

"It was a good one too." Cameron said.

Savannah wanted to focus on the interior of the building.

"How many do you think are in there?" Savannah asked.

Cameron detected several voices. She was sure that there were others as well.

"There might be half a dozen, maybe more." Cameron said.

Savannah looked at the vehicles that were being loaded.

"I think we should tag the vehicles and see where they go when they go somewhere." Savannah said.

Cameron felt the urge for a mass termination.

"That's a good idea too." Cameron said. "I still want to terminate them now."

Savannah felt her idea still bore fruit for further take-downs of this current operation

"Why don't we let one vehicle go and we will take the other one down." Savannah said. "That's if they leave at different times."

Cameron could see that they all were in her grasp, literally.

"We have them contained now." Cameron said.

Cameron wanted to take them all down now while they were bunched up. She could get a clean sweep this way.

Savannah was sure that they could lead them to more of the operation. If they were going to leave where they were, there must be some other place that they were going to go. That meant there was a second location of Grays already.

"We can put Hanna's team at one end of the street and Cammy's team at the other end." Savannah said. "They won't get far, especially if we tag them."

John knew it was always a problem whenever he became directly involved with one of Cameron's operations. He felt he needed to say something in this instance.

"I don't want to interfere with the tactical decisions but Savannah has a point." John said.

Cammy knew that Savannah's decision was the better decision.

"I have four trackers." Cammy said. "We only need two. Sheila is bringing them now."

Cameron concentrated her focus on the building.

"I still want to hit the building." Cameron said.

Savannah liked the support from Cammy but she didn't want Sheila left alone.

"Sheila can join our team and after she tags the vehicles. She can move to the back to cover it also. That will prevent anyone from slipping away. If one vehicle leaves before the other one, we can do that." Savannah said. "I'd like one of the girls from Hanna's team to join her."

Anna seldom got out on an operation. She was normally with Young Allison the majority of the time.

"I'll do it." Anna said. "I want to."

John could see his original idea of two teams of four was now four teams of two.

"OK, so we have four teams now." John said. "Sheila will be team leader for the new team."

"I'm moving into position now." Sheila said.

Anna hurried to join Sheila.

"I'm on my way." Anna said.

Cameron frowned a little. She didn't like the delay.

"I hope one vehicle leaves before the other." Cameron said. "I really want to hit that place."

Savannah wasn't sure why Cameron was so set on hitting the Grays right now. She could only figure it was because of what could have happened earlier at the mall. If 'Hanna' set off an alarm for someone, that meant she was the real target as Savannah Weaver. She was sure that's why Cameron wanted to hit them and hit them hard. Cameron wanted to protect her.

This Wouldn't Work

You don't need her
THAT is what I'm for
You need to look less
Not look for more

I don't understand
I'm RIGHT HERE
Now you've become blind
You can no longer hear

I have what you want
I have what you need
Slow down and stop
You need not proceed

This train to nowhere
Is going to wreck
It will end in disaster
You must stop this trek

As long as you seek another
Doing it with a smug smirk
I already told you before
This wouldn't work

Nobody