CH 13
Now that Derek had given a reasonable answer to her questions, Laura stopped bothering him about the photo in his pocket. She was also convinced that the General really liked her. She wanted to test that, since he would not come out and say anything to her along those lines. She did like the General, he was a good man, and even though he had hated all 'metal'. He did explain things to her and got along well with her. More reason she was sure he liked her.
Laura got her chance when they found a house that had a long dock beside a cove and plenty of property they could use for a small naval base. Closing up the house to add air cleaning filter to the central air system and a generator to provide electricity, a water filtration system and cleared out the bottom floor for smaller rooms for the workforce, The General took the larger second floor bedroom that had it's own bathroom.
Laura insisted she had to watch over him, so he begrudgingly submitted to her wishes of watching him at night. Seeing a women's clothing store, she did take some time their second night here to pick up a few things.
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Derek note the skies were clearing some. The clouds overhead were ever present, but at least they were medium gray and let some light through. Finding a few men who knew about boats, Derek had them salvage some from the docks to bring to the long dock in the cove. One they brought back was a 30 foot cabin cruiser. They other was a fishing boat. It was a little bigger and the hull was steel, while the cabin cruiser was wooden.
Each boat had it's advantages. The cabin cruiser had a pair of big eight cylinder engines and was fast. The fishing boat was steel hulled, and could have ceramic laid over the steel to help absorb plasma shots. It was also only good for ten or twelve knots. 14 maybe if the engine was wide open. It also had light cranes on it to haul in nets, but could be used for other things.
Derek turned to the happy guys who thought they had gotten the perfect boat and said, "They will need some work. I'll tell General Connor what we got and see what he wants to do with them."
"This is the best we could find, Sir," one man said.
"I don't doubt you. I only need to see what General Connor wants," Derek told him.
He went inside to the warming house. While it was still below freezing outside, inside, the mechanics had rigged up a 'suicide' heater. The pipes ran to the engine exhaust manifolds and muffler where the air was heated by the engine, then ported back into the house. When they first hooked it up, Derek wasn't sure it was going to heat this big house very much.
Hydrogen burns hot, especially with enriched Oxygen The first day, the house heated up to around 50. It was a nice and comfortable high 60's today. Derek waiting his turn in line to go into the 'airlock' entryway and get decontaminated. He also noted something odd. He hadn't seen Laura for the past couple hours.
This house had a bar in the corner of the living room. But no booze. Damn.
Being inside, in warm air, Derek noted he could smell himself, and it wasn't pleasant. He went up to his bedroom and found a uniform Jacket, shirt, pants, and boots folded up neatly. Seeing the closet door partway open, he noted a dark blue evening dress and a white nightgown that was only opaque in critical areas, along with a pair of shorter 'V' necked dresses.
"What?" he asked himself. He had seen cloths in here, but he thought Laura had cleaned them out.
"Oh, just in time!" Laura said happily.
Derek turned to look at her, and he swore his jaw hit the floor. Laura's hair was wet, and she was carrying a towel over her shoulder. That was all she had on. She walked towards him in all her naked glory as she talked.
"I saw a few things I thought would look pretty to wear in the woman's clothing shop downtown. I was feeling gritty and I didn't want to get the clothes dirty so I took a shower. The bathroom' all warmed up for you, General," Laura explained.
Derek heard pieces of what she said as he was locked on her smooth form, the wiggling orb on her chest that seemed to eye him back, and those gorgeous legs. He forced his eyes up to her pretty face and asked, "Clothes, in the shower?" not truly hearing what she had said.
Laura laughed, making her breasts wiggle more as if to say, "LOOK AT ME!"
"No, no clothes in the shower, that's why I'm naked," Laura explained. "I was going to wash my uniform, I can wash yours too if you want." she passed by him and opened the closet door to throw the towel over it. "There's clean towel in the bathroom." She picked a light blue dress off the hanger and turned to ask, "Did you want me to wait and wash your uniform too?"
"Ahhh," Derek croaked, not being able to form a word as both her pruned up nipples stared at him as he stared at them. "I…Ahh … you should get some clothes on," he said, which he knew was the right thing to say, although he would be sad when she covered up.
Laura tipped her head slightly. "General, If you like looking at me, I don't have to yet."
It nearly broke his neck, but he managed to turn away and forced out, "You do. Laura, you can't be doing that." Damn, when did it get so hot in here?
"Doing what?" she asked innocently.
Flailing his arms up, Derek cried, "Walking around naked!" as he focused on the bed.
"General, please calm down," Laura said firmly. "It is obvious you like seeing me and I rather like it when you do. I know there are moral codes that prohibit things like walking in public naked, but there is nothing wrong with it in our bedroom."
She said 'our bedroom'. That made Derek spin around and stare at her again. She was still naked, not even a towel on this time. The dress on the hanger was in her hand, her hands were on her hips. "our bedroom?" he asked weakly.
"Yes, I must ensure you are protected, so after I ensure there are no threats, I return here to watch and listen. That makes it our bedroom," Laura explained.
Derek knew what was to be. He also knew that Laura was 'new' as she put it. She was still a child in a body that made super models look pretty damn plain. He clapped his hands over his face and sat on the bed. Well he thought the bed was behind him. He landed on the floor.
Laura ran over to help him up. Yup, those juicy orbs were dangling right in front of his face. Laura did get him up and back to the bed to sit.
His face twisting up, Derek said, "Laura, please get something, ANYTHING on!" as his head fought to turn and his eyes fought to oogle.
Laura put on the dress she was holding, fluffed her hair out of the back and sat down. The dress was a pretty blue dress that covered her. It didn't help. He swore he could see right through it.
"General, please tell me why you are upset," Laura asked gently.
Although it was still hard not looking at her, he did his best to focus on her face. "Look, the only time I should be seeing you naked…" No, telling her 'after we're married', was NOT an option.
"Is when?" Laura asked watching him intently.
Derek face planted and asked, "Did you did see a liquor store in your travels?"
"I did not notice one. You also should not drink heavily. It is bad for your health," Laura told him firmly.
"You're killing me here," he grumbled.
With a slight tip of her head, Laura said, "Since I have not attacked you, you must mean I an causing you great frustration."
"You could say that," Derek agreed.
"Why?"
With a heavy breath, Derek said, "It's just …the best I can describe it is you are new. A child. There are too many things you don't know about. I think right now, you are unaware of what you're doing to me. Look, I see you naked, and that's like saying … you want to have sex. The thing is, you ARE a child, and to do that with you would be wrong, OK? I feel like I would be taking advantage of you and children should be protected and cared for. Not taken advantage of. Understand?"
Laura thought briefly, then said, "You are protecting me until I am able to fully function on an emotional level."
"Ahh , yeah, something like that," Derek agreed.
Laura put a hand over his. "Thank you, General for watching out for me," she said sincerely.
Derek smiled. "Derek. When we're alone, you can call me Derek, my first name."
"Yes, Derek," she said softly. "So you know, I do have an understanding of emotions, but not much experience. There has been times I thought I had a system glitch, but thinking about it, I am sure it was emotions."
"Really? When?" Derek asked.
"When I saw the picture of me in your pocket was one. It's hard to describe, but seeing a picture I verify was of me, I cold not logically understand how or why you had it. I had trouble doing anything but look at the picture."
"You were shocked I had it," he said.
"Yes, I was shocked, surprised," she agreed. "Then there was the emotion I had at Delta base when you went to that meeting. In the hallway I asked Cameron about that picture. She admitted to knowing all about it, who gave it to you and why, but she would not tell me. I had an impulse, a brief thought to pick her up and shake her for not telling me."
Derek burst out laughing. He flopped back and held his sides laughing so hard tears formed in his eyes.
Confused, Laura watched him.
Derek calmed down into chuckles and finally said, "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to do that."
"So, that is a normal emotion?" Laura asked.
Derek sat back up, still chuckling, "Oh yeah, that's normal," he said. He wiped his eyes again and explained, "You got frustrated with her. You had an impulse to harm, it happens all the time. Just don't go giving in to those impulses, all right?"
"Yes, Derek. You laughed because you have had that same impulse to hurt Cameron?" Laura asked.
"Yeah, I just thought it was funny you had one also," Derek said, grinning. Quietly he said to himself, "Maybe we are meant for each other."
"Is that what Nancy said?" Laura asked.
Derek stared at her. "Ahhh, you don't forget anything, do you?" he asked.
"No, my memory is perfect."
Derek swallowed and looked away. He got up and announced, "Might as well get that shower while the bathroom is still warm." he hurried into the bathroom and shut the door.
Laura sat and compiled what she knew so far about Derek. She was beginning to understand his reactions. The wide eyed look he gave her when she asked if this Nancy had told him his whispered 'maybe we are meant for each other', let her know Nancy had indeed said that, or something very similar. He carried her picture in his pocket, and she knew he liked her. The mystery was solved. Some time in the future and past the war, they were going to stay together.
Laura grew a smile. She liked the idea of being with General Derek Reese.
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The city council eagerly accepted John Connor's help, and agreed to join the Resistance. Each member went back to let everyone else know what was going on so no one would be afraid when that army rolled into town.
Once they got the block at the road cleared, John had the carriers and snow cats go into town first to drop off their sleds and unload. Next a Stug would come in, drop it's sled and make it's way back out to the edge of town to point out at the landscape. One after another, Stugs dropped their full sleds, filling the streets with the Sleds being unloaded.
To keep the streets from becoming plugged up, Many had to be parked outside the town. No cats and carriers would drive out to retrieve the contents.
It took a week of everyone working to properly seal up buildings and clean the air inside as well as add the air locks to decontaminate those coming in. At the hospital, Cameron and the TX's treated people with their nanites as another crew put the electrostatic air cleaners on the air conditioning system and showed the people there how to take care of and clean them.
John found out that other than sturdy buildings, Denver had no real fallout shelters. Talking with the Mayor, John found a hill outside of town to begin work on an underground facility. The rock was solid, which meant it would be good and stable for a larger facility to be made. With plasma canons, it was much easier to blast out rock to dig into the hillside.
John also got word that Derek had reached the gulf coast, and found a small 'port' to begin building boats to raid along the coastline and up the Mississippi. That was good news, but John wanted to reach Africa. He send Derek a message to 'find or build' submarines to reach the African coast.
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"Submarines?" Derek asked the messenger.
"Yes, General. The message from General Connor said, find or build. He wants some to go to Africa with," the woman told him.
"Ooo-kay," Derek said in a long breath. John had to be nuts! How in the hell was he suppose to build submarines? Ships for coastal raiding were already hard enough. The fishing boat was up on land and being modified with the cabin cruiser's engines and props to make it go faster. It was also being worked on to make 'landing boards' for the net cranes, and armored positions for men to shoot from. It did have large holds, but instead of fish, it was going to be supplies and salvaged material going down there.
The TX's were hard at work making a torpedo boat that was like a speed boat with plasma canons and small torpedoes. It was a good thing they had saved those terminators they had deactivated.
But submarines?
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Major Gentry send word back that in his scouting through Texas, he had found large concentrations of Sky Net around oil rigs and refineries. That made sense, Sky Net needed the oil to power it's H/K's .
This was a problem Derek could deal with. He sent the Stug back with orders for Gentry to scout out as many places Sky Net was concentrated at as possible, then return so they could plan out an attack.
Always within sight of him, Laura came close as the messenger went out and got back in him Stug. Seeing no one else was around, she asked, "Derek? You looked stressed. What is it?"
Derek frowned at her and said, "John wants submarines to get to Africa. I have no idea how to do that."
Laura offered, "We can build them. There are enough vehicles that we can finish the two ships we're working on, then start a submarine. It won't be nuclear powered, but it will work."
"How?" he asked.
"We use water to split into hydrogen and oxygen for fuel in our engines. We can bring in sea water and use that to power the engines. For underwater propulsion, we take the batteries out of all these vehicles and use those to power an electric motor. Sensors for sonar, and plasma guns for surface weapons. We're already making torpedoes for the ship, we just make more for the submarine," Laura explained. "It won't be the biggest or fastest, but it will do the job."
Before Derek realized what he did, He leaned over and kissed her. "Laura, you're genius!" he proclaimed.
Laura smiled brightly. She gave into her impulse and kissed him back. "I'm a TX!" she said proudly.
Derek had no idea why that was funny, but he laughed.
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While John built Denver into a large base, General Jacobson scouted out towards the Mississippi, and Derek built up his tiny fleet, Catherine Weaver was also looking towards the sea.
Her dream of a race of free machines was coming true. They were not controlled by Sky Net, and with John Connor's help, they were accepted by humans and the two worked side by side. They had build too much to let Sky Net ruin what they had accomplished.
On the west coast, the only danger was from the sea. Catherine new this and had the facilities now to make AI ships. Not needing the habitation concerns on human ships, she built smaller ships that were engines, guns and sensors. She still had an ex-human ship cruising the coast beyond the range of the radar posts, but she wanted more to fend of a Sky Net attack by sea.
With human made anti-aircraft missiles capable of reaching low orbit, she copied these with improved AI functions for her ships, as well a torpedoes to use against submarines and Sky Net ships. Plasma weaponry and radar directed powder canons, she had ten AI ships being made. Her human population was growing, as was her machine population.
Some of her residents had come from Mexico, thinking things were better here.
These groups, she had fed and healed with nanites, then spoke to them in Spanish to let them know what was happening in the world. She also stressed everyone must do their part, learn English and select a job that needed to be done. There was no money involved, for money meant nothing now in this time of emergency. The new currency was trade, work for food and good accommodations. Once Sky Net was defeated, they could work on a monetary system and be more flexible. She told them they would be working with AI machines, and showed them she was one. As for the protests and civil disobedience of the past, it would not be tolerated. As she destroyed 'bad' machines, she would destroy them also if they acted badly.
Catherine got stares from this, but by one spike through the head to a man who complained about his rights, everyone else understood she was serious.
Leaving the last group that had been brought in, Catherine went to her 'home' space to find Savannah back from school.
"How was school today?" Catherine asked as she came in.
Savannah looked up from her seat at the kitchen table shrugged and said, "Fine. Mom? If everything is gone now, why do we have to learn about history? I mean, what's the point?"
Catherine settled down across from her. "The point is, everything looks bleak now. We're living underground and fighting a malevolent AI. It will not always be like that. Eventually, we will win. Civilization will return. Savannah, the point of learning history is to know what the mistakes were in the past, and work to keep them from happening again. For instance, The military had wanted an AI to remove the possibility of error from their nuclear arsenal. The concept was solid, but it was acted upon improperly. The AI, Sky Net, was only taught military things. Nothing else. It never went to school as our AI's do now, as John Henry did. It was never taught right and wrong. When Sky Net is defeated and gone, it will be history that happened, and a very important lesson we all must remember. The history from before is still pertinent."
Savannah thought for a moment then said, "My teacher said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it."
"Yes, that is correct," Catherine agreed.
Savannah nodded vacantly then asked, "Mom? Was Daddy human or a machine?"
"He was human, dear," Catherine said.
"So, what am I?"
Catherine knew the question of Savannah's heritage would come up eventually. She wasn't looking forward to explaining. The time had finally come. She could not lie to this child. "You are human, Savannah. Very few people know this, but your human parents both died in that helicopter crash. I found you alive and got you to a hospital. I became your mother so your home would not be taken away. I was waiting until you were old enough to understand before I told you."
Savannah gaped at her. "You're not my mom?" she asked weakly.
"Not your birth mother, no," Catherine admitted.
Savannah stared at nothing for a while. A tear dripped down her cheek. "So, you adopted me … you took Mommy's form to trick me," she said.
"No dear, not to trick you," Catherine said firmly. "To try to make you feel like you still had a parent left. If I was wrong in that, please forgive me."
Savannah looked up at her. "I don't know what to feel right now. You lied, but you took me in … you took care of me."
"I am sorry. I did what I thought was best at the time." Catherine replied.
Savannah let out a sob and covered her mouth.
"I had no intention of harming you like this," Catherine said softly.
Savannah nodded and choked out a sob. Shakily, she said, "My teacher said no one is perfect … can I go to my room?"
"Yes, dear, please understand I had the best intentions with you."
Savannah nodded, the got up and ran to her room.
Catherine felt bad. Exactly why, she didn't know. She only hoped Savannah would be able to accept the truth.
.
Major Jacobson's scouts reached Kansas and Oklahoma. Kansas so far had no Sky Net activity. In Oklahoma, scouts found radio signals from the south in five separate locations. They got triangulation on the signals and crept in for a closer look. Three were radio repeater towers, one was a refinery and another was an oil rig. They also spotted a train. They marked the locations and headed back to report their finds.
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John had his first 'meeting' at the George base. Although Cameron wanted him to stick to Denver, John decided that George was the most central except for Catherine's LA base.
The meeting room was full. As they gathered, Jesse saw Derek.
"Derek!" Jesse called, and went over to give him a hug. Derek accepted the hug and asked, "How have you been?"
"Busy with building and expanding. Of Sky Net, we haven't seen shit," Jesse said, grinning at him. "Heard you've been having some action, where you at now?"
"South Texas, the gulf coast," Derek told her.
"Wow, we are kicking Sky Net's ass then," Jesse said happily. "Need some help? My guys are itching to mix it up with some metal."
"We're doing fine, Unless you have someone who knows how to build submarines, there's not much you can do," Derek told her.
Laura watched them, noting Jesse's arm had stayed around Derek after the greeting hug. Her left arm started to transform into a plasma canon. She quickly reformed her hand and forearm.
"Good to hear you're kicking ass, but you must be getting lonely at night," Jesse said with a lusty grin.
Laura knew she should probably stay quiet, but her mouth opened on it's own. "I ensure Derek is never left alone," she stated in a hard tone.
Derek winced. "NOT a good time Laura," he said, glaring at her.
"Who's this?" Jesse asked, eyeing the shapely brunette.
Derek coughed and said, "This is Laura, my assistant … and protector. She does a good job at it too. Laura, this is Jesse Flores, an old friend of mine."
"Old friend?" Jesse asked, eyeing him. "That's all I am, an old friend?" she asked as she took her arm down away from him.
"Aww shit," Derek huffed out.
"It is nice to meet one of Derek's old friends," Laura said with a quick grin.
Jesse eyed Laura, Derek, then Laura again. "You humpin her?" Jesse asked.
"No," Derek said firmly.
Laura was more complete in her answer. "I am too young for that. Derek said I need to understand my emotions more, first," she stated.
Jesse's eyes narrowed. "You're metal?" she spat.
"TX, your point is?" Laura asked. Somehow, she enjoyed seeing the look of disbelief on Jesse's face.
Jesse turned to look at Derek as she backed away. Shaking her head slightly, she said, "You are the last one I would think would cuddle up to metal." she then turned and walked away.
Derek rubbed the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger as he let out another sigh. "That went well," he grumbled.
"Did I say something wrong?" Laura asked innocently while she felt good at driving Jesse away from Derek.
"No … and … yes. We need to talk about subtlety," Derek grumbled.
"Yes, General, but we have this meeting first," Laura reminded him.
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Jesse fumed while each person informed John of where they were at with their various activities. On the west coast, Weaver was making ships to cover the ocean outside of Bedell's coastal radar. Her manufacturing as going strong and her population of both terminators and humans was increasing, as was the size of her facilities that were now split into manufacturing land vehicles and ships. General Bedell was working at stiffening defenses and opening more transportation routes. He'd found a circuit board plant that was salvageable, and wanted help to start production. Sarah was growing enough food to feed the cavern masses and a good portion of the army, she was also tunneling to make more room for the population, which was growing slowly, but it was growing. There had also been 29 births, which was a good sign. Echo, Foxtrot and George were all coming along well, and Denver was once again a city, and had a good start on growing their own food. 'Area 51' had four planes in the air, and had plenty of materials to work with. Major Jacobson showed them where the Sky Net units were he found, as did Derek. Derek also told about the two ships he had nearing completion and the submarine plans he had going. Catherine offered her help with Derek's submarine project.
John found places where they could cooperate to be more efficient. He announced Catherine was now 'Fleet Admiral, west', since she was the only one with ships.
This time, the Sky Net units were spread out over a good portion of Texas and Oklahoma. There wouldn't be a single strike to take them all out. Jacobson had been recently reinforced and supplied, as was Derek. Now, they had H/K's to bring into the fight, as well as terminators, long range artillery and Stugs. Again, John chose a multi-unit attack on Sky Net. A raid on the radio towers to kill Sky Net's comms in the area, another to tear up the railroad tracks, then Jacobson would attack from the north into Texas, and Derek from the south. The goal was to get rid of Sky Net units in Texas, then deal with Oklahoma. Jacobson would provide the rear guard for the Texas campaign.
"General Connor, shouldn't we go for Oklahoma first?" Jacobson asked. "That would be a smaller operation, and much more manageable."
"It would," John said.. "But then the southern force would not be able to assist, and the ones going into Oklahoma would be trapped between the Sky Net forces to the east and south. We don't know what Sky Net has farther east. We also want to remove a much oil refinery capability that Sky Net has, as soon as possible. With this plan, we know where they are, we take out as much of their fuel supply as we can. I'm sure once we get rolling, we'll find out what Sky Net has farther east. We'll make plans for the attack and the logistic support in another meeting. Right now, just know what we're going to do."
"General?" Major Crammer said. "At George base, we can supply logistics and units for this operation."
"Denver can send a couple thousand men also," Mayor Franks stated.
"We can supply weapons for them," Major Baker said.
"General, I can supply 5000 men and 15 Stugs to the fight from Charlie base," Jesse offered.
By the time they were done offering support and extra units to 'split' the Texas forces with a third, fast moving to drive through the middle of Texas, John's plan was firmly up. Again, it was nearly all the resources he had to make this large attack. It also wasn't just a single battle, but a campaign to re-take Texas.
John finished the meeting by saying, "Everyone remember, we hold a couple advantages. One, Our Stugs can out-pace anything Sky that has except an aerial H/K's. The second is we fight as an coordinated force. From reports, if you're fighting 5000 terminators, your fighting 5000 individual fights, they do not coordinate well. Once everyone reports ready to attack, I'll give the order to advance." Thinking of something Sky Net would not recognize, John picked some appropriate ones from an anime he'd seen and said, "The words will be, "Panzer Vor."
.
After the meeting, Jesse eyed the sexy shaped metal following Derek around. It was tempting to go up behind her, shock her with a tazer then pull out and stomp on her chip to break Derek's fixation on her. She could not do it now, she'd bide her time. Eventually, she'd get her chance to destroy that bitch.
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Derek returned to his troops in Texas, which from here, was going to be a 15 hour ride. He was also going to enjoy going back to warmer weather and a very much warmer house. On the way, he huddled up to get some sleep. Dreamily, he sensed warmth in front of him. He wrapped himself around the warmth and had dreams of cuddling with Laura in the big bed in his bedroom in Texas.
Seeing Derek sleeping as he hugged himself for warmth. Laura had laid down across the seats and put a blanket over them. She turned up her body temperature to give Derek some heat. First one of his arms went over her, than the other slipped under her head. He pulled her to him and hugged her. Laura snuggled back into him.
"You are so sexy," Derek mumbled, barely audible in his sleep. One hand moved briefly, seeking her right breast. Laura guided him to it. His hand latched on.
This was a nice feeling, Laura enjoyed being held. "How far will we go," she asked quietly.
"Forever, my lovely wife," Derek mumbled softly, then snored.
Wife. Laura felt happy and nervous about that. Eventually, they were going to marry. She liked the idea, but was concerned because she didn't know how to be a wife. She needed to learn.
As the transport ran back to Texas, Laura stayed in place, enjoying cuddling with her future husband. This felt really nice.
.
Derek had a good long sleep, waking up just a couple hours from their base. He found a blanket over him. He figured that was why he was nice and warm. Laura was up between the front seats, operating the front video camera.
"I'm not seeing anything in the direction you indicated," she told the co-driver.
"See that snow mound to the right? It was beside that," he told her. "It was a flash of silver."
"It could be one of ours," Laura noted. Her right arm morphed into a plasma cannon. "Driver, approach that mound slower."
Derek sat up. "Laura, what is it?" he asked.
"We don't know yet," she replied.
"There!" the driver said. A T-800 stepped out. It stopped and raised and arm, motioning them to stop.
"Stop by him," Laura said and opened the hatch to stick her upper body out.
The terminator eyed her then said, "TX, resistance model. You may proceed," It stepped back out of they way and motioned them on.
"Thank you," Laura said and got back down, shutting the hatch behind her. She turned to Derek and said, "Perimeter guard, General. No need for concern."
"Almost home," Derek said. "That was a short trip."
"You slept most of the way," Laura reminded him, wearing a crooked grin.
"I'll be set to get some work done then," Derek said with a yawn. He did have a good sleep with pleasant dreams. He just wasn't going to share his dreams of making love with Laura with anyone.
Getting back to the house, Derek checked on the progress of the boats. The 'speedboat' was in the water at dock and painted a dull gray that matched ocean water, with dull white striped scattered about. one boom was down, laid along the side, the other by the dock was raised, holding the plank to get on and off the boat. It was lower than it had been. The bridge and upper deck was gone, replaced by a smooth cover. He could see a round hatch in the front that was closed. Farther back was a rectangular hatch. The Ex-fishing boat looked sleek.
"That looks different," Derek noted as he went down the dock to inspect it.
The TX man turned and cast him a smile. "Hello, General. Besides putting in the stronger engines, coating the outside above the waterline with ceramics, and adding weapons as you wanted, we too off the top parts that are not needed any more. In the front is a dual plasma canon, back here is the missile launcher. They both raise up so until needed, they do not add to the radar signature. The hull was covered first with ceramic, then a carbon fiber mix we found. It is not radar proof, but will absorb enough to obscure it at longer distances. The sensors are on a retractable mast, as well as hull mounted sensors."
"Very nice," Derek said absently. "It looks bad-ass."
"Care to see the inside, General?" the TX asked.
"Lead the way," Derek told him.
On the ship, Derek noted a larger set of hatch doors in the middle for loading cargo and men to exit quickly if they were being put ashore. Another hatch in the sloped middle opened up to shot stairs down into the craft.
The inside was much rougher looking that the outside. Still, it wasn't the same boat any more. Straight ahead was the command center with monitors, the helm and weapons control consoles. It was then he saw the torpedo control console. Every console had seats with arm rests and seat belts.
"Two torpedo tubes in the bow," the TX said. "Eight torpedoes on board in an auto loading system. When one fired, another is loaded in. Cycle time is ten seconds."
"This is bad-ass," Derek said absently.
"Air, surface and underwater weapons, and it's low to the water," Laura said. "It reminds me of a Stug."
The TX smiled at her and said, "With the success of the Stug design, we strove to maintain similar characteristics, while maintaining the needs of ocean going combat."
"How many of these can we make?" Derek asked.
"Two more are being made, General. On the submarine project, we found several steel tanks 14 feet in diameter that are no longer in use. We cut the ends off and welded the tanks together. We are on the process of working out where the equipment will go, and the reinforcing of the tanks to provide a proper hull," the TX explained.
"Outstanding work," Derek praised. "Please let everyone involved know you have all done a superb job."
"Thank you, General! I will let everyone know," The TX beamed.
Meeting with his Majors inside the house, Derek got the latest on Sky Net.
Gentry pointed to Houston on the map. "Lots of Sky Net here. We couldn't get a good look but we did see a tanker come in. They go that place surrounded with guards, Terminators, fixed guns and H/K tanks. We didn't see any flying H/K's but we're sure they are present. The refinery to the north east is also crawling with everything Sky Net has. This is a big one, with plenty of storage tanks. There are others around the area, and up farther north. We were wondering where Sky Net was. Well, they're here."
"I see," Derek said. Sky Net here was going to be a tough nut to crack. He was going to have to recall Jacobson to help. He would also need artillery to destroy the refineries. "All right, let's get all the information we have to General Connor, ASAP. Laura, go tell the ship workers we need those boats in the water, ready to fight ASAP, the sub project is on hold until those boats are ready. We'll need crews for them. I want to know the minute they are finished."
"Yes, General," Laura said and left.
In a mussing tone, Derek said, "We use the boats to sink whatever is in dock and destroy their ability to bring oil in while the refineries are under attack. We'll need H/K's of our own , artillery and lots more men down here. This isn't a 'let's go see what's there mission any more."
"General?' Gentry asked watching him intently.
Derek told him, "We've been ordered to attack, all units. We are to remove Sky Net from Texas. This is going to be one long battle."
.
John was taking reports as they came in. For the northern force, it was mostly open terrain and radio towers and isolated facilities that had to be dealt with. The 10,000 men of the Denver / Charlie force led by Jesse was to go into the string of radio towers, cut comms then make a solid defense line as far north as possible. Finding some TOW missiles ,land mines and claymores in Gentry's old army depot, those were to be used to stiffen this line
John reminded Jesse they needed scouts to watch the refinery to the north for movement. She had to be dug in before Sky Net units arrived.
Directly south of them, Jacobson was to move south and hit every Sky Net unit they came across. The only way they were to stop, was when they got their feet wet in the gulf. Then they were to await orders on which way to go next.
Derek was reinforced by Delta and Foxtrot, as well as H/K's and the long range artillery. He was to blow up the tank farm north of Houston and disable the ports and take out as many units as he could from the western Sky Net defenses. John was hoping to hold those Sky Net units there near the shore to keep them out of Jacobson's fight.
Catherine Weaver was setting force of humans, terminators and Stugs to back attack any large Sky Net force opposing them.
John noted that he had 61000 men and terminators, 20 artillery and a mass of Stugs and even ten M1 tanks to make this assault. Derek, Jacobson and Gentry were well versed on tactics, and Weaver was experienced also.
He was hoping it would be enough.
.
While he waited for everyone to get assembled and in place,, John was a nervous wreck. He could just see this plan failing, and the all the places he'd worked so hard to build, fall back into Sky Net hands. If he wasn't aggressive though, Sky Net would be.
Cameron did her best to sooth him and assure him this was the right move. Sky Net wasn't expecting a mass attack.
The day came when everyone reported being in place. From Jesse in the north, to Derek in the south, everyone was ready and waiting.
John gripped Cameron's hand hard as he raised the mike to his mouth. He said, "All units, this is John Connor … Panzer Vor!"