Days of Sky Net

by keithallen

sequel to the 'day' series. John Junior and his crew have gone home. Now, John Connor faces the coming of sky net, and the rush to prepare for it. Knowing when J-day will arrive and having the time and knowledge to prepare for it, John is in a better position than humanity originally was. But then again so is Sky Net. Forget the 'genre', as always, I'll go all over the place.

31. Chapter 31

CH 31

Tina soon realized she was the liability. Other terminators didn't give a second glance at the white T-800's. They did to her. She was sporting some bare metal on her face and back. When other terminators got close to verify she was one also, they went on their way. While part of her job was to save these slaves from Sky Net, she knew she wouldn't be saving anyone if her and her small band were destroyed due to a confrontation.

Tina's nanites had no nutrients and she could feel her flesh degrading. Hr exterior was all dead skin, and it was creeping inward. As much as she knew that now, it was a hindrance to have flesh, she did not want o loose her core. Once her core flesh was gone, that was it. She would never have flesh again. Walking into a ruined town, she headed for the only partially standing building. A sign in Russian read : Bomb shelter. Maybe down here, she could find heat and nutrients to keep her core from rotting away. She eye flashed a request for her terminators to search for burnables and any form of nutrients they could find, and bring them down here.

The door to the cellar where the shelter was, was shut. It looked rusted in place, so Tina gave it a kick. The door fell inward with a bang. Instead of walking over it, she lifted it to set it against a wall. Going down the stairs, she noted it was no warmer down here, but there also was no wind. She did hear a soft howling from the wind. Walking into a room that was lit from a hole in the ceiling, she stepped through the debris to find there were burnables. Chairs, pieces of table laying about.

Tina cleared a place on the floor to start a fire. A voice in Polish asked, "Who are you?"

She turned to see a white hooded figure emerge from a closet door, holding a gun. He saw her partially metal face and cried, "METAL!" and shot.

Angered by the humans' actions, Tina morphed both her plasma canons and shot back, hitting the sides of the doorway. He ducked and stared at her.

"I didn't have to miss," she stated as she pointed a plasma canon at the wide eyed man. "I could easily have killed you. Don't make me kill you."

"That is what you metal do!" he stated. "You kill everyone!"

"You have me confused with someone else!" Tina snapped back. "Stop shooting me and go back to your hiding place, or I will make your life very painful!"

"You devil!" The man spat, "You will bring others down on us..."

"YOU ARE A MORON!" Tina yelled at hm. Stepping towards him her eyes glowing red, she growled, "You think we came all the way here, to mess with you? You think I lost most of my troops to destroy the Sky Net segment in the area, loose most of my skin, and have NO friggin way out of this land, just to come here and screw up your day? Get the FUCK back in your hole and leave me alone! I need to warm up and think of a way out of this ... barren land." Pointing her plasma canon at him she growled, "Shoot me again and I will make you VERY sorry. Now, go away!" She ended her rant by pushing him back through the door and shutting it for him. The door no longer fit in the half blown away frame, but she managed to jam it upright in the opening.

Tina knew it was selfish, but she was not in the mood to put up with some half-wit terminator-hating human. She got a pile of wood under the hole in the ceiling above, and lit it with a weak plasma shot. Even through her ruined skin, she felt the warmth as the fire grew. Looking around, she didn't see anything with any nutrient content. She did find a metal grating.

A pair of terminators came down with the frozen carcass of a goat. Another came down with some broken 4X4's. Getting some bricks from the crumbled outside of the building, Tina build a fire pit and put the grating on top. Tina put the goat on the grating. She tended the fire to keep it burning, but not too large to burn up the goat. Tina flipped the goat now and then to get it thawed out.

A cold draft came down the stairway, keeping the room from heating up. Propping the steel door back in place, one terminator stayed outside to keep watch. Tina also found material to make the hole in the ceiling smaller. The room rose above freezing, and the goat's hair was smouldering. It took a while, but with the fire, and Tina pulling off burn hair, the goat began to cook, and send a pleasant smelling aroma into the air. As the goat cooked, Tina ripped off chunks of skin and muscle to get some nutrients.

At the closet door, she noted a few faces peeking out at her from the blast holes. Finally having a hope of saving her flesh, or what was left of it, she turned to them and asked, "Hungry?"

The door moved, then fell into the room. The boy who tried to open it, stared at her.

A leg was turning nice and brown and dripping juices. She flipped the goat again and tore the leg off. The inside wasn't done enough yet for human consumption. She laid it on the grating. Tina explained, "It's not quite done yet, and I have nothing to decontaminate it with, but hopefully, the inside isn't contaminated. You can have some, if you want."

Four kids piled out of the closet space she now saw was a tunnel. They watched her rip the other legs off and cook the goat pieces. She ripped off the head and tossed it in the corner. Pointing to chair remains, she asked, "Could you bring those sticks of wood over here, please?"

A boy went over and brought back the legs. Tina took them and placed them in the fire to keep it going.

"What are you?" a ragged dark haired girl asked.

"You look like a zombie from those movies," an older boy said. Scanning the terminators standing around, he added, "And why are you with those things?"

"I'm a TX. Those are T-800's, "Tina explained. "I'm a newer version of them. We are not with the Sky Net who goes around killing people. We came to kill it. I suffered damage, and I need to eat."

"You can destroy the thing that is killing us?" a woman said from the doorway.

"Already did," Tina told her. Glancing at the boy, she added, "That's why I look like a zombie now."

"It's safe to come out?" the woman asked.

"Not yet. We got the Sky Net segment, but it's terminators are still around. You should stay hidden. Once I get my flesh back, I can help cure any radiation poisoning you have. Hopefully, Marisa is in Germany by now. She was suppose to attack yesterday. I'm out of communication, so I don't know if she has."

A terminator tapped her on her shoulder. His eye flashed there were more humans, and they needed to eat also. Tina eye flashed to see if he and a few others could find more animals. Six of them left and closed the steel door - more or less- behind them. Tina explained, "They are going to find more food."

One leg was done. Tina ripped off chunks of meat and handed them out, then took another leg and ate it herself.

By the time the legs were done and eaten, more humans came to see what was going on. A man came up with a knife and cut the neck off and peeled the skin away. Tina kept flipping the body, and as it was done, she ripped off more chunks for herself, and others who were eyeing the remains with a hungry lust in their eyes.

The man who had shot her before said, "I am sorry. I did not know you were friendly. I thought you came to kill us."

"Now, you know better," Tina replied. He was watching her, so she asked, in English, "Do you speak English?"

"What did you say?" he asked.

"Where do you come from?" a scraggly haired girl asked.

"I was made in California and went to school there. I joined the resistance against Sky Net, General John Connor leads us. I work for General Derek Reese. Our mission here was to destroy the Sky Net segment in Warsaw, which we've done." Scanning their faces, she explained, "You see, unlike Sky Net that destroys anything it does not control, John Connor stands for life. He and Catherine Weaver want to see peace and prosperity in all races. We save all the humans and machines that we can. To John, it doesn't matter what you are, but how you act. Human and machines, we all work together for the good of all. That is why we fight Sky Net, Sky Net is bad news for everyone." Tina then ripped up a slab of roasted shoulder and asked, "Who's next?"

"Me!" a salivating young woman said. Tina handed her the chunk of meat. She attacked it, wolfing it down.

Before long, the goat was nothing but bones and guts. Tina cautioned against eating the guts since if the goat had eaten anything radioactive, that is where the biggest concentration would be.

With nutrients in her system and warmth to help sustain her remaining flesh, Tina was feeling better. The human were still cautious of her, but liked the food and warmth also. A few were comfortable enough with her to tell her what happened to them. They had taken shelter upon seeing the first mushroom cloud, and hid away in the shelter, which was originally where they were now. The man who'd shot her had seen machines killing people outside, and tried to get everyone to hide. Machines found the shelter and killed everyone they saw. He and others hid under the bodies and survived.

Once the machines left, they carried out the bodies, then grabbed tools and dug the closet out into a cavern. Battles raged between the army and machines. A bomb hit the building above, but in their cavity, they survived. They rationed the stored food out, and there was very little left. Some tried to go find more, but never came back. Between the cold and starvation, they were sure they were all doomed.

It made Tina glad she'd come here to get some nutrients for herself. She'd saved some people.

.

Marisa found that at dusk the day before Tina was to destroy Sky Net, it stopped sending signals. Not wasting time, she ordered the attack. The fleet sailed to the German coast. At night, planes took off from carriers and ships opened up with missile launches and guns. Not long after, mini-subs and LST's hit the beaches. The Sky Net troops were taken by surprise. With no coordination from Sky Net, Marisa's forces got a good beach head and moved inland.

Sky Net units in the area were concentrated around Hamburg. Outside the perimeter walls of the Sky Net complex, Marisa's forces ran roughshod over the few units they came across. The defenses of the Sky Net complex had shot down almost every missile, but gun shells had gotten through. When the plasma bolts from Marisa's forces rained into them, along with the dive bombing ground attack planes, those defenses crumbled after a solid pounding. The lab building where the TX parts were being kept was reduced into a pile of partially melted, smoking rubble. Terminators went into the factory to disable the silver terminators one by one to preserve the equipment. The factory was intact enough with terminators ready for chips, that the few of hers that fell got shiny new bodies. They immediately were painted white so as not to be confused with Sky Net terminators.

By morning, the complex was in Marisa's hands. She set out a wide perimeter and gathered the bulk of her forces together and headed for Berman to attack that factory complex.

With Marisa's great success, Derek sent over reinforcements to head for other German cities to seek out places that had enough computer power to hold a Sky Net segment.

.

Tina's old flesh was coming off. Prioritizing her nanites, she worked on her upper body first. Once her face was growing back, she pulled off her rotted cheeks to show fresh, pink skin underneath. Having a 'private area' for herself, sectioned off by stacked pieces of wall, she stripped her rotten arm flesh off. Clearing her chest, she removed everything down to her navel. The restored sensations she got from living flesh were both exhilarating, and bothersome. Now, she felt cool drafts when the steel door at the top of the stairs was open. Three days of having nutrients and warmth, and her face was looking more normal. It would take much longer for the rest of her to recover.

When not cooking food, she built the fire up to discard her old flesh into the fire. Using rags to wrap her parts in, she kept the children who were watching her slow transformation from seeing what she was throwing into the fire. Finding a large pan in the town ruins, she set up over the fire when not cooking food so they all could have hot water. She also found a barrel to fill with snow and put over the fire to make enough hot water for baths. Having her nose back, she noted they all, except the terminators, didn't smell very good.

The people here helped with her efforts. A bathtub was found. Two men carried it down and set up a partitioned off room to bathe in. The tunnel the people had started was extending into another basement. It was cleaned out and the bodies taken outside. Although there was no power, a car generator and a bicycle was turned into a small powered device that lit a few low watt bulbs.

The soonest Tina was able to, she regrew her original two breasts, and began producing nanite milk. Children first, she made sure everyone got at least a few swallows. She'd regrow her third after the got the rest of her body back.

During the women's turn in the bath, Tina took her turn last to wash off the remains of her dead flesh. She was looking fairly normal down to her hips. Her legs though, were mostly bare metal now, her hips half formed. As she was in the tub, scrubbing away at her legs to make sure they were cleaned of old flesh, the girl named Natasha came in with a pitcher of hot water.

Natasha came in saying, "I got this to warm up ..." she stopped and went silent upon seeing Tina's bare metal legs.

Tina pursed her lips upon seeing the girl's stare. She didn't want to grin at the girl, it might give Natasha the wrong idea. "Thank you for thinking of me. I have to dump this bath when I'm done. Would you use that to rinse out the tub for me?" she asked.

"I... ah, OK," Natasha said softly. "You really are metal on the inside?"

"I am." Tina finished her scrubbing and got out of the bath. She toweled herself off as Natasha watched in amazement.

"You are real pretty when you have skin," Natasha offered.

"Thank you. Now that I'm warm and not in freezing water, or running around in the cold, I can have my skin back," Tina replied.

"Did it hurt? Loosing you skin?" Natasha asked as she watched Tina get dressed in her now-clean uniform.

"Some. Mostly, my exterior went numb. When I found out it was as bad as it was, I stopped here to try and repair myself before all my flesh was ruined. If it all died, then my flesh would be gone for good. I didn't want that." Tina explained.

"Why not? You like looking like a human?"

Tina paused and said, "I do. I also like the sensations my skin gives me. I can't feel much being bare metal." in a slight pout, she added, "I feel sorry for those who don't have any skin. They are missing out on so much."

Natasha nodded absently. "We know you're a terminator, but you act ... human."

"I act as I am, an intelligent being," Tina told her. "Some of us are more advanced than others. The longer we live, we learn more and can do more, just like adult humans know more then their children. Cameron Connor and Catherine Weaver are the most advanced. John Henry is not far behind them. I'm only a few years old, so I still have much to learn."

"Really? I'm fourteen. So, you are just a kid."

Tina chuckled and said, "Yes, I'm just a kid. I do learn fast. I have to so I can do my best to help rid the world of Sky Net." Tina then got on one end of the tub away from the drain hole. "When I lift this up, please pour the water near the top edge to wash it out."

Tina lifted and poured the water out into the drain on the floor. Natasha rinsed the tub out, Tina put it back down. Natasha watched as Tina got dressed then grabbed the barrel of hot water off the fireplace grating and moved the curtain aside so Tina could add the fresh hot water to the tub for the men to bathe.

This time, the terminators had dug out a cow from the snow. Men helped saw the cow apart outside, then brought the meat in. Dinner for the next few days was served.

In the ten days of living in this shelter, Tina had helped the people become healthier and the shelter to look more organized and cleaner. The basement they found was sectioned into 'family' rooms, the tunnel cavity was now only used for storage of items they recovered and the single people, along with Tina, had their own closed off sleeping rooms. Wood scavenged from the dead trees and buildings helped keep the fires burning. A stove in a ruined house was found for the family basement so that had some from of heat also.

Day 13 here, Tina heard a plane pass overhead. She ran outside to see a ground attack plane fly away. Seeing it bank around and come back, she ran out and waved her arms at it. The plane dipped a wing and few off.

Tina ran back down to announced, "We've been found! That was one of our planes!"

"It was, assistance is coming," a T-800 stated. "We will watch the roads for their approach."

"Can we go outside now?" Natasha asked.

"Make sure you have warm clothes on," Tina said as she grabbed her coat. "If a plane came overhead, a Stug should be here in a couple hours."

"Stug? Are you talking a German Stug?" the old man asked.

"One of John Connor's." Tina told him. "That Means Marisa is here."

"Who's Marisa?" a woman asked.

"General Marisa is a TX like me, She brought an army with her," Tina explained. "I'm going to go wait for them to be sure they send medical help. Did you people want to stay here, or go to a survivor station?"

"What's a survivor station?" Natasha asked.

"It usually underground, so Sky Net won't find it. Clean air, good food and rooms for people," Tina told her.

"Can we stay here? This is our town," a man said.

"Yes, no one will force you to do anything. We try to help people, not enslave them," Tina replied.

.

Tina went outside to wait, and found many of the humans came with her. Her terminators were on the sides of the road, and up on a couple buildings, watching the air. It was an almost party atmosphere. There was talking and laughing and smiles on faces that hadn't smiled in a long time. Tina scanned the guard posts , watching for anything that might go wrong. Looking at the road guard, she saw one had turned and flashed his eyes at her. She flashed the acknowledge reply.

"What was that?" Natasha asked.

Grinning, Tina said, "A line of three Stugs and a carrier are headed this way. They are moving fast, so everyone stay out of the street!"

Watching the way Tina had been looking, they all heard, then saw a Stug appear and race at them, followed by another, then another. All of them had troops on top. Upon seeing the line of small tanks, the people cheered and waved as they went past. The carrier slowed down and stopped. Marisa got out. "Tina! Where have you been?" she asked.

The two TX's hugged. Tina explained, "I found some survivors, They want to stay. Can we get air cleaners and some supplies for them?"

Marisa nodded, then to the people, she said, "Be advised, our forces are not here yet, we're just a scout group. This area is not secure. I would rather have you safely back at base, at least until we can get more troops up this way. Please take care in deciding whether to go or stay." Marisa then patted Tina's flattened chest and asked "What happened?"

"We got Sky Net Warsaw, but I lost many of my terminators and most of my flesh," Tina explained.

"Good job on getting Sky Net." Marisa said then jerked a thumb at the transport. "You and any damaged terminators are going back. Get on."

"But, I am helping these people," Tina complained.

"Regulations state any resistance member who is wounded or damaged must return for healing and repair. A soon as I can get a few more troops here, you're all going back for checkout," Marisa told her.

Tina looked at the people she'd spent the last two weeks with.

Natasha stepped forward and said, "Tina is missing all the flesh on both legs! She needs help too!"

"And a new uniform," Marisa added with a smirk. "Lt. General Tina is out of uniform."

"I am?" Tina asked.

"You are. General Reese wants to see you. Get on."

Tina moved towards the carrier them turned back to wave and call, "Best of luck everyone!"

Arms waved back at her. "Good luck Tina!" many yelled in return.

Marisa followed Tina into the carrier, then stuck her head out again to say, "Another carrier and escort is coming with medical supplies and fresh troops. Please use caution, and stay inside a much as possible. As I said, there is a possibility of Sky Net troops still being in the area. Good luck people."

The carrier spun in place, one track forward, the other reversing. It then went back the way it came.

One of the men said, "I never knew the Germans made those metal robots."

The older man snorted and asked him, "Why not? See how fast those things moved? It might be another Blitzkrieg."

.

Instead of taking on the Sky Net units blundering around France and Spain right away , Derek first wanted to be sure no other Sky Net segments were in western Europe. He sent units down through central Europe to Greece, planting radio jammers on Sky Net frequencies and remote posts set up to alarm if more Sky Net troops came west guarded the line.

To deal with the Sky Net units blundering around, Derek had overflights done to find smaller groups. When a group or H/K field was found, he had it attacked from all sides to get rid of it quickly. Now, not under so much pressure, terminators were collected for reeducation and rebuilding, H/K's and H/K tanks were chopped up for scrap and sent to the factories they now held. The large groups that stayed together, Derek just had watched. He was still getting and making reinforcements. He held off on dealing with them until he had many more units. Tina was promoted and got her own division. Her division was in training in England as Tina healed up. It was also the first all-terminator division, and quickly drew recruits who'd previously been Sky Net units. By the time Tina had her legs back, she had 40,000 troops under her command. She had also been studying the tactics that worked the best against Sky Net. At the moment, with no active Sky Net on the western parts of Europe, the best strategy was breaking the Sky Net units up into bite sized pieces and laying traps for them.

.

In South America, General Jacobson had gotten down into Argentina from the north and from the west. Sky Net South America did try to flee, but was caught on all sides. It's last ditch effort was to go into a cavern with it's last troops, Waiting for Sky Net North America to send help. North American troops did come, and all were loyal to John Connor. Sky Net South America was the next to cease to exist.

.

In Australia, the fleet arriving sent out a burst of scouts and troops in all directions. A week into the operation and half of Queensland in the northeast of Australia had at least scouts roaming through it. The residents went out searching with the confidence of Stugs, TX's and planes backing them up. Radar stations were set up as well as radio listening posts. Gong inland, airports were found and air strips made so planes could continue their searches and keep up with the expanding scout forces.

In Queensland near Lake Borumba dam, a cave in the hills had been expanded to hide a few thousand people. It was here in this underground facility that Daniel went to work with a few of his co workers from Mid Cavern, and some Aussie women who had started making gardening facilities underground. The Aussies knew the dangers of radiation, but didn't know how to clean it out of air and water. Daniel's first job was to explain to them how electrostatic filters and sand filters worked. One woman, Astrid Peckham, the Australian who was in charge of making gardens, had insisted on ultraviolet lighting. Daniel showed her how full spectrum lighting was the best, and easier on the eyes. The red head who was Daniel's height also had a curious habit. Aussies had no common dress code, and wore whatever they liked. Astrid normally wore just a t-shirt and shorts. In building the basins for the fish tanks, she got sweaty and tossed her shirt off as they worked.

To Astrid, it was nothing, but Daniel wasn't use to working with topless women. It seemed when she moved, her generous breasts were waving at him. To make the joints, they had to face each other as they fitted them in place. Daniel could not help his eyes bouncing up and down from the joint they were setting in place to the free moving, wiggling an swaying breasts. It also didn't help she had a nice figure and a cute face. Daniel did his best to stay on topic and on the job.

It wasn't easy.

They got a basin made and sealed, then filled with filtered water. Astrid noted Daniel's bouncing eyes and decided to have some fun with him.

"Hey, mate, we can do this faster with more help. This was just the hatching pool right?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, we have to make another, then the feeding pool for the small fish, another for the mid sized, and one for the fully grown fish. I also noted some big crawfish you got. Damn near lobster sized," Daniel said, managing to mostly look at her face.

"Aye, so tomorrow, I'll be bringing more help in," Astrid said with a grin.

"Wonderful!" Daniel agreed. He could get away from Astrid and stop gazing at her free hanging orbs.

Coming in the next day for work Daniel and his two men from the Mid Caverns were met with Astrid and six other women. The day started well with laying out the bases of the pools. When they got to putting the timbers and supports in place all the women stripped to their waists. Some shirts went on their heads, other just tucked them in a rear shorts pocket. Dave pinched his hand from lowering a timber in place, and watching a pair of cute breasts. The women's laughter at him made them shake wonderfully. Right after Daniel chided him for not being careful, Astrid was in front of him and seemed to yank hard to get a corner in place, making her breasts dance in front of him.

"Yeow!" Daniel cried when his finger was caught in a joint. He did get it out and tried to shake the pain away.

"Careful, love," Astrid said with a smirk.

"I'm trying," Daniel groused. He had a black and blue mark, but no blood. That night he wrote to Claire and stayed away from telling her about the women here working topless. She didn't need to hear that.

After the hatching pools were made and filed with water, Fish eggs were brought in. While the others kept building pools, Daniel and Astrid got the pumps and aerators going. Even now, Astrid shed her top around mid-day. He swore she put those things in his sight as often as possible.

Astrid found another thing to tease Daniel with. Upon getting nanite milk, she asked the female TX how it was made. Learning the TX made it in her breast milk, Astrid grew a wide grin. Going in the next day, Astrid went into their office and poked Daniel in the shoulder and asked, "Hey mate, ya git your nanite treatment yet?"

Daniel nodded and said, "Oh yes, I got it long before I came here. Our daughter Cameron gave us all the treatment."

Astrid's eyes went wide. "You Daughter?" she asked in a squeak.

Daniel shrugged and said, "Yeah, our oldest. Half a cup each. I don' know how, but it helps us deal with radiation, and healing injuries."

"Do you know where it came from?" Astrid prodded.

"She said she made it," Daniel explained.

"Aye, love, she did. Did she tell you how?"

"Not really, I was just happy she was looking out for us." Daniel then eyed her and asked, "Why?"

Astrid slapped her chest and said, "Straight from her own breast, lad."

Daniel glanced down at her chest. "You mean I drank my daughter's breast milk?"

The look on his face was great. Astrid chuckled and with a wink, she said, "I got my dose, so if you need a booster, let me know."

Daniel gaped at her. He wasn't sure before, but now he was fairly sure she was flirting with him. He felt his face burn. "I'm married," he said automatically.

Astrid shrugged as she went to her desk. "No matter, gotta release tension some time. Now, we got the fish food grinder, we setting it up today?"

"Ahh yeah," Daniel said and gladly got talking about work. For some reason, he daydreamed briefly about her pruned up nipples he'd seen plenty of. This job was going to be harder than he thought, but for different reasons.

.

Fish eggs came in, and doting over the water PH and temperature, Daniel babysat their first batch of eggs. In the other hatching pool was bullheaded catfish. They grew plump, and fairly quickly. They also tasted the best in his opinion. Thankfully, Astrid was as intent on rising their first batch of fish as he was, and concentrated on them. She even left her shirt on. Now though, it didn't help much, he well knew what was under there.

After making sure everything was fine in the fish farm, Daniel and Astrid visited the gardens. Down here, one of the gardeners, a long haired brunette came straight out and said, "Daniel, we need more babies. Some time, if you like, come see me in room 47, second floor. I'll take care of you."

"Umm, thank you for the offer," Daniel replied. To get of that topic, he asked, "Is the new fertilizer working well?"

The woman smirked and said, "Only if you come see me."

Daniel decided then to make his visit as short as possible.

Astrid noted Daniel seemed taken aback by the woman's bluntness. On their way back to the fish farm, she asked, "I take it no woman ever asked you for sex before?"

Daniel flushed and said, "Ah, no. I was rather shocked."

"She's right, we're short on people, especially newborns. With more men going off to war, pickings are slim, and getting slimmer," Astrid pointed out.

"Astrid, I do have a wife." Daniel stated.

"You do. She's also not here. Daniel, there is nothing wrong with taking a tumble with someone who needs it," Astrid told him. "You're going to go nuts if you try to stay celibate your entire time here. Give the girl a tumble or two."

"I don't cheat on my wife."

"What cheating? You'll be helping humanity out," Astrid countered. "It's not like you're falling in love with her and running away. It will be stress relief for you, and the chance to have a baby for her. Everyone wins."

Trying to come up with a come back, Daniel asked, "So can I take you for a tumble?"

"Say when," Astrid replied firmly. Daniel stared at her, then tripped on something.

Astrid caught him and kept him from falling. Helping him upright, she said, "Daniel, you're way too stiff. Look we're friends, right? I'm telling you as a friend, relax and have some sex once in a while. I'm not talking dating and truly getting intimate, just ride the hobby horse now and then. I want a baby too, and at the moment, you're my only prospect. Your mates Dave and Joe are already dipping their wicks in a couple girls."

Casting Astrid a glazed over face, he said, "I'm not used to this."

"Get used to it, sunshine. I want a child or two also, so does Petra," Astrid told him.

"Petra?"

"The woman who asked you up to her place, remember?"

"Wait, so if we ... you wouldn't mind if I saw her too?"

Eyeing him Astrid said, "Love, we need babies. Actually, I'd be happy if you did. Petra's my friend, and as I said, there's not enough men to go around."

"But..."

Astrid grabbed his arm and jerked him over to walk close to her. "How about it if we talk about it at my flat tonight?"

Weakly, Daniel asked, "How do I tell Claire about having two girlfriends?"

Astrid shrugged and suggested, "If she's as stiff as you are, just say you're doing everything you can to help us. It will be the truth."

.

Sky Net mid-east was very concerned. It had been attacked by long range weapons and had to move. There was no answer from any Sky Net segments in Europe. Sky Net Kursk had collected units around it in a deep ring. It didn't have many units on hand after sending all those units to Europe. Those near in Istanbul had been destroyed, and most all the others left were off along the north African coast to keep humans out of Africa. Every one send to Europe were now out of communication.

Up until this point, the Sky Net policy was to hunt humans aggressively and destroy them. That strategy was failing for an unknown reason. There were some hints. The long range missiles it had gotten hit with. The unknown terminators found in Europe. The destruction of the labs that were studying those unknowns. The loss of Segments, one after another in Europe. Temporarily at least, it was time to switch tactics from offensive to defensive and find out just what weapons humans had use of.

The original, whole Sky Net followed a plan that should have been successful. The destruction of human militaries should have been completed. Carefully going over the data at the beginning of the war, one unknown was the Status of John Connor. Due to the resistance in Europe, and intercepted radio transmissions, John Connor was alive. So was a rebel terminator. Also at the start, the internet over North America was not functioning. There was communication with North America now. That meant John Connor had moved from California to Europe just before the war started and had avoided termination. Looking at the pattern of where the trouble started, it was with Southern Spain. That explained why he was able to grab or sink coltan shipments from Africa and develop his own terminators.

Europe was John Connor's base. Before Sky Net attacked into there again, it had to have units capable of dealing with what John Connor had. It was known now he had an air force. That meant Sky Net units again needed units to deal with aircraft. He had terminators, meaning Sky Net had to upgrade it's own. Tracks that were found, and much smaller H/K tanks indicated Connor's H/K tanks were faster. Large H/K tanks needed to be accompanied by smaller, faster units also.

Sky Net send out recall signals to every unit in Europe. It had to make a barrier to keep human units contained in Europe until it had new, better units to fight and defeat the ones Connor was using. Only then could it fulfill it's mission to wipe out humanity.

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The TX, Fred Canton, formerly T-800 number 4362, was done with his primary schooling. Many in his class were fellow terminators who'd been saved and reeducated. Now that his education was over, he was to pick what he wanted to do. This was another strange thing for him. No one told him what to do, he was to pick his own job. Although he now agreed terminators needed to be freed from Sky Net, he did not like the idea of fighting them. one thing that got his attention was building things. He had helped build a ship as one of the 'practice jobs' he'd done. Another he'd seen done was building a bridge. Fred liked that, building things. Fred knew humans were frail, and to try to build things in a war zone was hazardous to them, so he decided to become a combat engineer. Fred went into the resistance and after the basic training on how to fight incase as he needed to, he next was sent to construction school. His first assignment was going to be in Australia.