Chapter Name: Sam.
Notes: Thanks to reviewers PigWiz, Urias and OneHorseShay.
A junior officer stepped through the bunker door. The man, Jenkins, was junior only in name. He was far older than his commander. Having served in the First Gulf War, Bosnia and spening most of the 2000's in Afghanistan and Iraq as a senior PMC leader meant he'd seen pretty much every a foot soldier could. Even with all that experience Jenkins still shuffled nervously across the room until he stood tall in front of what passed for an office table.
He glanced nervously at the bodyguard standing bolt upright on the wall. Some people just never felt comfortable around reprogrammed machines. They had a tendency for the 'obey human' rules to flip suddenly back to 'kill all humans'.
Despite all the work that could be done, water still leaked from the roof. The maddening sound of dripping water hitting concrete might drive other men insane. Not Connor. To him it signaled the inevitable march of time.
Inevitable?
Patiently Jenkins looked across the desk as his commander finishing writing up some order sheets. They were split into two neat piles. Finished and signed, the commander turned his attention to his trusted subordinate.
"The mission?"
"Successful. Puckett improvised."
"Good. She was better at that than most of our commanders."
At that point Connor grabbed one half of the files and neatly placed the stack it into the trash can next to him.
Then the question everyone dreaded. The answer was a given. They would have heard something by now.
"Casualties?"
"Total. One of the over watch team survived an air attack, but he didn't make it. Legs were blown off."
John Connor sighed. Every man, woman and child who died under his command, his orders weighed heavily on his mind. They did the job though. In his heart he mourned the loss, in his head he knew the potential cost for success for the mission.
He would have paid it through gritted teeth. There was only one more thing to discuss.
"The tape sir. We've got it back. The tech team have cleaned it up." A sweeper team had made their way through the facility to recover what tech and gather the bodies for proper burial. By the entrance to the chamber they found what was left of Sam, and the camera lying close by.
"Condition?"
"Garbled in parts. But ready to watch." Even though he didn't consider the 'she' to be a 'she' at all. His commander did though. Which meant he did. At least when he wasn't alone. Especially when he was in the same room with the commander.
Connor picked up the second stack of papers and handed them to the commander.
More orders.
More death.
More hope.
"Take these to Volker, Lawson, Young and Walker." With a wave of his hand he dismissed the junior office in front of him, who left the room in what could be called a graceful hurry.
"Play it Cameron."
Goddammit. I knew it. I'm going to die here. In this chromed out metal tech lab which smells like a hospital. I think life is trying to be ironic. If I was in a hospital I'd be fine. Instead I get the empty smell of clean mixed with the slight tinge of burning oil running through my nose as my life drips away.
I'm bleeding out. Turned a corner, a patrol bot was going around up the hallway. Got hit in the stomach. The guys pulled me back before the second shot. It would have split my head open like a watermelon. My armor took most of the blast. If anyone else in the squad got hit they would have been cut in half by the plasma. We don't have the supplies to patch me up. The only thing keeping me conscious is the morphine. And it still hurts like a bitch. I shudder to think how much it'd hurt without it. From what I've been told it's excruciatingly painful without pain meds. You take a long time to die as a bonus.
That would be good if there was any surgeon around. We do have a barely capable medic, but he's with the over watch team. So I'm dying here, one way or another.
The squad is going on without me. Mission is too important. They put me in a room where I can see out into the main entrance to the site. I'm theoretically covering their backs. If I hear anything or see anything, I'll radio them. But there's nothing. It'd also mean our over watch team would have to be killed without getting a warning off. That wouldn't happen. Their leader was too good for that to happen.
I say theoretically because the diversion worked perfectly. The EMP bomb worked even better. The only species left active in this place is humanity. I think the squad told me I was covering them so I'd not just let myself die.
Why am I recording this? What else do I have except to narrating my own death while the team prepares to complete the mission. The mission is the reason. Only after we complete it will I let myself die.
With that in mind I deserve to let some shit off my chest...
Connor listened intently, growing mildly impatient at having to listen to Sam's soliloquy on life and death. The amount of times the woman had cursed him and his decisions out frustrated and gave him some wry satisfaction.
The loneliness of command. Unchanging since the first human leaders took charge of their fellow men. Although the idea was far from a human only issue.
In her calm collected tone Cameron sought to steady John, "I have the transcript. Captain Puckett speaks highly of you later on."
He grunted, thinking about exactly how much was cursing and threats, and how much was respect.
Cameron sensed his annoyance, and skipped it ahead. He'd read the full transcript later.
"Come in... anyone there? Chronus One-One? This is Chronus One-Two."
The fuck?
"Goddammit, what happened to radio silence? This is Chronus One-One Actual." Even split from the main squad, she was still in command of the overall mission.
"Sam? You should be in the chamber by now." I guess you can drill military doctrine into civilians, but you can never imprint it totally to the point of unquestioning adherence to doctrine.
"Well I fucking got hit. The squad is already inside, but .. shit, what are you doing? You should be well out of range with that EMP bomb."
"We heard you got hit. We got the contact and the cas report. We came down to see if you need any assistance. They left you behind?"
"Why do you think we brought backup? I was only slowing the squad down." Backup referred to the other person trained for and with the smarts to actually complete the solo mission or at least survive long enough to pass it off to those who could complete it for us when they made contact on the other side.
"How does it look from the outside?"
"We've moved to over watch position Charlie. We left a couple guys covering us."
"Preparing to enter the chamber." The sound of hissing automatic doors shot down the radio link
"There's noth-"
"CONTACT!" A second voice screamed through the radio. I heard weapons fire echoing down the hall for half a minute before silence. Dead silence.
"Shit, shit.. Bracewell is hit. Fuck."
The backup.
"This is Chronus.. fuck it, this is Sam, what the hell happened?"
"A trap. The metal had a couple guards ready for when we opened the chamber. We didn't see it in the time. It took out Bracewell with one hit. Cut his body in half. It got Stevens and James before we stopped them. It's a real fucking mess. We're clear now. Chamber is undamaged. But now what do we do?"
Well that's just peachy.
"Chronus One... Actual come..." In the background I could faintly hear some geek tech chatter, the line squawked and the static was brushed away.
"This is Chronus One-Two Actual."
"Get the fuck in here. We need you."
"Watch the potty mouth dear." A mildly condescending tone replied back to me. It was the 2IC for the mission itself. We picked up that part of the team closer to the objective, as they had been doing recon before our arrival.
"You might be older but I'm still your superior officer. I'm looking straight at Entrance Theta."
"Sure thing Sam. You tell yourself that. The only thing you're superior at is eating!" Her voice shifted to a more professional tone, "Theta. Got it. We'll be there soon as I can. Out."
The radio clicked silent.
I could feel my life ebbing away. Draining away. My life didn't flash before my eyes. What did flash before my eyes was death. Spencer. Carly. Steven. Freddie. People I loved. People I hated. All the death and destruction and loss. Fuck it all. I'm coming back to you Carly.
I heard footsteps bounding up the corridor. I could tell it was the other squad. The door opened, two neat halves sliding into the wall. Three soldiers stood with their rifles up to clear the area. Another two bounded ahead, to clear the hallways to the left and right of the entrance. And then my 2IC walked into the light, her golden hair backbit by the bright early morning sunshine.
"You look like shit Sam." As she came closer I noticed her face was rough, clothes stained with mud and dirt and sweat. Just like everyone else here.
"I feel like shit."
She called the medic to come check me out, not much he could do. Stuck me with a shot of morphine, wrapped me up in some bandages and in so many words told me there was nothing more anyone could do. Not out here. It did help me stand up without worrying that my intestines were going to fall out.
"What's the play here?"
"You need to take over for me. You're the only one I trust with this."
"To do what?" It intrigued her. Not knowing what I was doing all that time. With Connor. Planning. Preparing for a suicide mission without telling anyone what the goal was.
"Go back."
"Tell me and I'll go."
I unzipped one of the leg pockets and pulled out my full orders and instructions.
I handed them over. As she looked over them I said to her, "Not where. When."
"It was a good idea John."
"I know.. it's just not what I ordered." Connor tapped his pen on the desk, deep in thought. That he wasn't the only person smart enough to command or have the best interest of humanity was a reality check he constantly needed to have lest he grow over confident in his own abilities compared to the forces under his command.
"The mission parameters changed. It happens. Puckett worked around it as best she could."
"Show me the end."
I finished filling everyone in on what needed to happen. As soon as that generator flicks on the EMP bomb won't matter. We'll attract metal from all over the place. Bomb or no bomb, they will not be expecting the facility to switch on and they will come even if they think the guard units are still active.
It didn't long to get ready. I found it ironic that having their own nigh-impenetrable shell over the lab would help us stop them. They wouldn't get through all the shielding quick enough to get into the lab itself.
All the blast doors were dropped and blocked.
We left one slightly open. The furthest away from the chamber.
Everyone knew their role. Keeping that chamber safe was the only objective. We started the power up. Five minutes later we got the report from the over watch team, "Over watch report. Large enemy contact. Estimate 50.. five zero enemy foot troops. Two vehicles. Transport type. No weapons. Shit, fliers abo-"
Then silence. Seconds later a booming thud carried it's report through the building.
A massive explosion hit the roof. It tore light fixtures out of the ceiling. The lights flickered, and the ground shook. But it held.
Now it was my turn. I addressed what was left of the team and completed the defence plan.
"You know how important this mission is. You know your jobs. Die with honor. Delay the enemy as long as you can. There is no escape. Good hunting. You aren't just fighting for yourself."
Inspiring.
I can hear them coming now. The grind of tracks in the sand. The clank of the enemy dismounting the vehicles.
This is the end for me. If this makes it back somehow, I hope it was worth it.
Sam Puckett. Captain. Tech-Com Special Forces Pac Nor West. Based in Seattle. Signing off.
The last thing I did was stick this fucking camera in my webbing. I'll be damned if I die without giving someone the opportunity to see we died with dignity and did our duty to the human race.
Connor watched the vision, his eyes narrowed. Sitting forward in his seat, even as a hardened veteran of this devastating conflict he couldn't help the chill down his back when the first wave of the attack was launched. The shape of death. Implacable foes, unfeeling. Unemotional. Unable to feel pain. Impossible to reason with. They advanced through the doorway.
The first couple of defenders hidden in the side hallways didn't even bother shooting, they just hit the fuses on their demolition charges and flung them at the metal.
Even with a slight delay in the explosion, they were still shot to pieces before the explosions went off. The blast tore apart both dead flesh and steel. The next handful of defenders were brushed aside with minor casualties.
Sam lead her team in a delaying action, pausing to turn and spray a few shots towards the column of machines advancing towards the chamber. The hallways filled with a dark blue electrical light, sparks shot from the lights as the hum of the generators escaped into the corridors.
His men and women kept falling. They turned to shoot, but weren't fast enough to duck back into cover. Screaming. Thudding impacts. Bodies falling lifelessly to the cold hard floor. Soon the only one left was Sam.
By the time the machines got her they were too late. Hit in the legs, she fell before the entrance to the chamber. The picture spun as the camera broke loose and clattered to the ground.
The last frames of the video showed her smiling as a machine took aim at her body from point blank range.
What Sam was looking at told him all he needed to know. The blue turned to white. A cacophony of noise enveloped the very air. A final frame of lightning arcing inside the chamber told him they'd done it.
Would he ever truly be able to understand if the next part of the mission went well? Would everything change in an instant. Would he be stuck in this nightmare as another time line replaced his as the main one?
Their mission was a success. Now it was up to the woman who stood inside the chamber to make their sacrifices worth it.
AN: I've been trying to work on one of my other stories, but had immense writers block, and felt some disconnection with my muse. In the end I pulled up this story and just plugged away until I had the framework of the chapter, then filled it in with more detail and eventually we get this. Thanks for reading.