Out of the Past: Old Ghosts and New Enemies

by metgear5

With the supercomputer Skynet destroyed the world seems to have gotten back to normal. But the Bebop crew soon learns that an evil like Skynet always leaves a legacy behind.

13. Sacrifice

Chapter 13: Sacrifice

John was sure he was dead the moment he had been grabbed. The unyielding grip the hand had on his throat and the ease he was being held off the ground told him Skynet had caught him. Just his luck the two tunnels leading out of the construction area would be lead to one another so quickly and he'd bump right into the liquid metal terminator. As he was cursing the universe's sick sense of humor he noticed something odd. He was still alive. The gun that had been put under his chin hadn't fired the instant it made contact. He was grateful to still be breathing but at the same time wondered why Skynet would hesitate. As his vision cleared from being slammed into the wall he saw whatever had him pinned didn't look like Lieutenant Roberts, or anyone else that was human. There was a mix of bluish gray metal and a face that he did recognize, kind of.

"Arnold?" He managed to choke out. In all honesty he wasn't exactly sure since whatever was holding him up looked so mangled it only held a passing resemblance to the reprogrammed T-800. In response to the question Arnold lowered his gun before setting John back on the floor and let go of his throat. John coughed a couple of times but was able to get his breath back.

"Sorry." Arnold said once John had stopped coughing. "I could not tell from your footsteps if you were Skynet or not, and I could not risk being spotted until I was positive."

"Guess I can't blame you for wanting to make sure." John replied in a hoarse voice. "But I need to make sure to." He added, fixing the machine with a suspicious look. Arnold didn't take offence and answered immediately.

"The liquid oxygen weapons that were built were given the name Freezethrowers by Ed." He stated. John nodded in response.

"You pass." He said. "Damn man. You look as bad as I feel." He added once he got a good look at his ally. A large hole had been blown in the center of his chest, exposing the metal that composed his chassis. The center of his left hand appeared to be bent and deformed along with a couple of fingers dislocated or broken and a hole punched clean through it. To top it all off quite literally the left half of Arnold's head and face were missing, the flesh camouflage either shot or ripped away. Now he was looking at a face that had one normal eye and one red glowing one surrounded by a metallic skull that was deeply dented in several places.

"I'm going to need a vacation after this." Arnold replied in a weary tone. John blinked and almost did a double take. Had Arnold actually just told a joke on purpose without being prompted? Ed was going to be thrilled to hear that…. if they actually made it back to the others.

"We all will." John agreed, trying to keep the negative thoughts to a minimum. "What happened to you anyway?"

"Skynet happened." Arnold answered before going into an explanation of his fight on the transit platform, and being thrown off it at the end. "I managed to find a way into the lower tunnels and have been trying to work my way to the surface since."

"I'm guessing your radio didn't survive the fall?" John asked, figuring that he would have tried calling them instead of just wandering around. Arnold shook his head in conformation. Looked like the universe was still playing bad jokes on all of them. "Figures. Where did you get the gear then?" He asked, glancing at the MP5 Arnold was holding and the two ammo belts he wore, one of which he noted was loaded with grenades that were barely able to fit in the pouches.

"From a guard station that had no functional communications equipment." Was Arnold's response.

"Why am I not surprised?" John asked sarcastically as he shook his head. He told Arnold of the fight he had just come from and how Skynet was probably trying to deceive his way back to the others. "We need to warn them somehow." He finished, motioning to the tunnels around them. "You're the one with the roadmap here so lead the way." Arnold nodded in acknowledgment and turned down a tunnel he hadn't explored yet. They managed to find an emergency phone but it was a landline with only one button. No doubt to a communications center that would patch them through to whoever they were trying to call, if someone was actually on the other end of the line. Since there was no chance of that they continued walking. Arnold stayed on a general up direction and his logical choice paid off because it led them to a loading station, complete with a control booth. Looking through the window they saw it not only had a wired phone bank for secure lines but that it also was set up for wireless communications!

"Jackpot." John said as he went over to the door and entered Ed's skeleton key code, then got a loud buzz in response. "Another one that's off the circuit and locked?!" He shouted. He turned to give Arnold an order but the terminator was already in motion. He pulled John out of the way with one hand, sank the fingers of his other hand into the door and began forcing it to slide. John could hear a metal on metal screeching noise and the sound of machinery breaking as the door moved but it did move and after a moment it was open wide enough for both of them to get through.

"Unlocked." Arnold stated simply once he let go of the door.

"Thanks." John replied and he rushed inside. Time was of the essence now and he needed to get in contact with the others as soon as possible. Moving to the communications area of the booth he sat down and found that their luck was changing as the equipment powered up without a hitch and that he would be able to manually input the frequency they were all using rather then just dial it in. That was assuming that this fifty plus year old equipment was capable of broadcasting on their frequency. Opening a channel he got an electronic squeal and a burst of static but he was broadcasting so he grabbed the microphone. "Spike, Faye, Jet? Can you hear me? Is anyone there?" No answer, with even more static and weird noises coming from the speakers. It looked like while he could access this frequency using the retro gear in front of him being able to transmit and receive things over it was another matter. "Come on come on." He muttered, turning dials and pressing buttons as he tried to boost the power of his signal strength. Hoping that his basic knowledge of ISSP radios was enough to work here he tried again. "If any one of you guys can hear me please answer, but if you can't, listen. If Kyle says that I'm with him he's wrong….don't trust anything that he says."

In a separate section of the tunnels things had remained very quiet since Skynet had made his last transmission. None of the adults had spoken about what they had just seen, and weren't about to in front of the kids. Even though Meifa and Ed hadn't seen what the others had they knew that it had to do with the one thing on everyone's mind, Kyle's death. Nobody wanted to talk about that now, or anything else for that matter. Ed wasn't even trying to cheer up/distract everyone with her usual weird antics, which made all of them nervous, and angry. As much as Ed's wild nature drove them insane seeing her act so quiet and normal like this was just wrong. Yes they knew part of it was because she knew now was not the time for any kind of foolishness but it was also because she was hurting at the loss of Kyle, and potentially John. As hardened and cynical as the three of them were all of them knew that if you didn't become angry at seeing a child put through something like that, you weren't human. Still, they also knew what their priorities were. Get Meifa and Ed someplace safe, then take out all their aggression on Skynet. How to destroy the liquid metal body was something they still had to work out but…

Whatever everyone's thoughts were they were broken as Faye and Spike's communicators let out a shrill beep followed by loud burst of static and garbled speech that no one could understand. The adults all glanced at each other but Jet spoke first.

"Don't try to answer." He told them. It sounded like someone was trying to force a message through and that meant Skynet was going to try to get to them again. That was not something they needed right now, even if it was only words. He was about to tell Ed to block him again when an unexpected voice started coming from the radios.

"If any one of you guys can hear me please answer, but if you can't, listen. If Kyle says that I'm with him he's wrong….don't trust anything that he says." John stated. Now they had a real problem. There was no way that it could believably be John on the other end. To be contacted by John so soon after Skynet was too much of a coincidence. On the other hand what they were hearing now was a warning that Skynet might be with Kyle and apparently didn't know the latter was dead. It was enough to make Jet consider answering, but hesitant to do so. That hesitation told someone else they needed to act so they did in the only way they knew possible. Ein began jumping around and barking, not in alarm or confusion but sounding happy. Everyone looked down at the dog for a moment and Spike was the first one to make the connection. When Skynet had first contacted him imitating John Ein had instinctively known something was wrong with the way John sounded but didn't know what. Spike had brushed it off as John being overworked before they had learned the truth. He also realized why Skynet had just been able to fool all of them, even Ein, so completely, he had never spoken. He knew Ein's ears would be able to pick up on the difference between him and the real John so he had remained silent to maintain the illusion. If the little dog was acting so excited at hearing John's voice….

"You're sure it's him?" Spike asked, needing to make certain Ein was positive. Ein stopped his jumping and yapping routine, looked at Spike and answered with a loud bark that seemed to say "Of course I'm sure!" and almost sounding insulted that he was being doubted. Deciding Ein's 'word' was good enough Spike took out his radio. "John if you keep on almost dieing like this people are going to start thinking you're me." He half expected Ed and Faye to start yelling at him or make a grab for the radio but they were quiet, waiting to see if John could actually hear them. There was silence for several seconds when a second recognizable voice could be heard in the background.

"It's him." Arnold stated. Ein let out another loud excited bark, which gave everyone around him a pause.

In the control booth John sighed in relief. He knew there was a chance that Skynet would steal Kyle's radio and use it to spy on them, or worse try to lure them into a trap. Fortunately he had Arnold's mechanical hearing and knew that he'd be able to tell the difference between a real human voice and Skynet trying to imitate one. Once he had gotten a reply from Spike he had looked back at Arnold and the cyborg had known what was needed without being asked and confirmed that it was the real Spike.

"Since you're taking the time to insult me I'm guessing that Ed is with you and all right." John answered.

"Looking like she's about to explode with excitement as a matter of fact." Spike confirmed. Indeed Ed now had her usual large grin back and was practically hopping up and down waiting for her chance to talk to John. "Along with your favorite sparring partner." He added, noticing the look in Faye's eyes, which quickly turned into an angry glare and a scowl. He smirked at her response but that smirk disappeared at John's next question.

"And Kyle?"

"He didn't make it." Spike told him bluntly.

"Damn." Was the only response that came over the radio. Back in the control booth John was leaning on the panel, holding up his head with both hands. "The cave in or Skynet?" He asked.

"Skynet." Spike answered simply. Details could wait till later. The less people that had that sort of distraction the better. There was even more uncomfortable silence.

"We have to kill this thing." John said out of nowhere. His voice sounded flat but they were able to tell he was now very angry.

"We know, but we have to figure out how before we can do that." Spike said.

"Well we'd better do it fast!" John snapped. "We've already had too many close calls and if this keeps up he's going to wear us down!" Before Spike could answer Jet motioned for him to hand over the radio. Figuring John would listen to another ex-ISSP officer more then him he gave Jet the radio.

"John, you know that taking care of Ed and Meifa comes first." Jet reminded him.

"I know, I know." John replied. "Though it's starting to look like the only way we can do that successfully is to finish Skynet off."

"No question about that." Jet agreed. "But until we figure out just how to do that the next best thing is to keep one step ahead of him and try to stay hidden."

"He found us here Jet." John reminded him. "The most out of the way place in the solar system and he still found us. And if he found us this time he can do it again and separating would only put the girls in even more danger then before."

"John…." Jet began but John cut him off.

"Every time someone has been separated from the rest of us Skynet was having an easy time of it when he caught up! Faye and I would both be dead if he just killed us instead of trying to be smart!" Jet didn't respond but he knew what John was saying. Before now Skynet had been going for mindgames as well as death while hunting down Ed. If he hadn't been playing with their feelings along with trying to kill them he would have just decapitated John in the Gate room and thrown Faye off the cliff the moment he got his hands on her. He hadn't and that had cost him so he just simply killed Kyle when the opportunity presented itself and none of them would have known about it if Kyle's quick thinking hadn't shown them the truth. Evasion and defense had only gotten them serious wounds and one dead, now John wanted to go on the attack.

"Trying to regroup is only going to give Skynet a better opportunity to find us." Jet reminded him. He doubted he'd be able to talk John out of it, he knew a stubborn jackass when he heard one. Between the two he had to deal with every day and his own actions when he was younger it was easy to recognize.

"Is that going to be any different then going somewhere else and risk running into him there?" John asked in response. Before Jet could answer he continued. "I know the danger this is going to put the others in, and I'm going to hate myself for it, but if we don't it'll leave us that much weaker and get who knows how many innocent people killed." He finished. Jet knew he did have a valid point. Faye wouldn't be getting the use of her arm back anytime soon and that meant they only had himself and Spike that could properly guard Ed and Meifa. Having John and especially Arnold back in the fold would go a long way in making him feel that the girls were sufficiently protected. He also realized that any help they could get on the outside would have just as much a chance of stopping Skynet as Kyle had. That meant a lot more people dead for nothing, something none of them wanted. Still…he was at heart a police officer and that meant protecting others so he couldn't just make them put themselves in danger. In that case….

"Show of hands." He told the others with him. "How many think we should try to find John and Arnold?" He knew exactly what would happen and just wanted conformation but sure enough everyone raised a hand without hesitation, with Ed raising both of hers for extra emphasis. Even Ein was standing on his hind legs with both front paws raised to mirror Ed. Nobody wanted to risk losing someone else by abandoning them, not after what happened to Kyle. And though he didn't exactly approve of Meifa volunteering to stay and be shot at he was also very proud of her for showing that kind of bravery and loyalty to the people around her. "All right. Just tell us where you are and we'll try and work out someplace to meet up."

"We're in a section of the transport tunnels, probably near one of the entrances if I'm reading this control layout right." John replied, sounding relieved that Jet was agreeing. "Outside I can see EP-074 painted on the corridor wall."

"Ed, do your thing." Jet told the young hacker, who immediately went to work. "I just hope you have something in mind for when we have to go after him again." He warned John.

"Spike said that those chemicals he blasted Skynet into did the most damage of anything we've tried." John answered. "If we can lure him back there and keep him in one of those vats…"

"Won't work." Spike interrupted. "That stuff is going to be even more dangerous for people and I don't think he'll be dumb enough go back there after what happened the first time."

"It's the best chance we have." John insisted. Jet was about to intervene when MPU spoke up.

"There are two routes available that will bring the two groups into contact in relatively the same distance." He stated. "The first leads to the main transit tunnels. The second will end just outside the rocket test labs. Which route is preferable?" He asked, waiting patiently for a response. Jet and John would have to decide that but there was no immediate answer from either of them as the preverbal light bulb went off over both their heads.

"I've got an idea." Both of them stated to the other at the same time.

After ten minutes of hammering out an impromptu plan and having Arnold memorize all the floor plans MPU could give him Jet decided to make sure everyone was committed.

"I hope all of you realize this idea is utterly insane." He told his audience.

"You were expecting it to be something else?" Spike deadpanned. Before Jet could decide just how much of that comment was actually sarcasm John decided to put in his two cents.

"Insanity has always worked with you guys before so there's no reason to change that now."

"You don't want to stop what works." Jet agreed. "We'll see you two when we get there."

"Right." John replied simply and broke the connection. Jet handed the radio back to Spike, glad John had known to keep it simple when breaking off contact from them again. If he actually did try to say something to someone individually, he ran the chance of them trying to talk him out of what he was about to do. Not so much with him or Spike but Faye, Meifa and even Ed would definitely have second thoughts on sending him to do something that was almost tantamount to suicide.

Back in the control room John wasn't exactly thrilled with his chances of survival himself but he wasn't going to stop a little thing like that from doing his job. Standing up from the control panel he turned around and saw Arnold presenting him with a Glock.

"You're going to need this." He stated. It wouldn't do that much good for what was coming but something was better then nothing.

"Thanks." John said as he pulled back the slide to check the weapon. "Well, let's go hunting." He said simply as he headed for the door.

As Jet had expressed before this plan was nuts. As Arnold led the way through the tunnels John had the time to think over just 'how' batshit insane actively looking for Skynet really was. Trying to hunt down a grizzly bear with nothing but a pocketknife was probably smarter then this. Then again there was part two of the plan, if they could get that far, where the odds became even worse. Still, he did have faith in the others and while their skill, and especially their luck, had seen them through so far he just hoped no one else was added to the casualty list before this was done.

He didn't know how long they had been walking, it could have been minutes, it could have been hours but it seemed like they kept on getting farther away from what they were looking for the entire time. MPU had verbally given them as complete a map as he could, as well as directions to the tunnels Skynet was most likely to be in, but the time it was taking made John start to wonder if they had settled on the wrong decision and that retreating was the better idea. That was before they turned that one corner, just in time to see someone down the corridor finish turning to look behind him. Someone who looked exactly like Lieutenant Patrick Roberts. Up to this point John was worried that Skynet might be able to figure out it was a trap if he reacted the wrong way, if it seemed too obvious that they had been looking for him and were trying to make him pursue them. Thankfully he had the same reaction as anyone would if they unexpectedly bumped into a homicidal, nigh unstoppable machine that had been trying to kill them for the better part of the last two days.

"SHIT!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he brought up his gun, which he had the foresight to not holster for precisely this reason, and started to empty it into Skynet. Arnold joined in with a long burst from his MP5 and the two of them were able to stagger Skynet just long enough to keep him from reaching for his weapons. "RUN!" He ordered and Arnold reacted instantly, ceasing fire and running in the direction that would take them to the others the fastest.

Skynet's own journey through the tunnels had proven to be just as fruitless as John and Arnold's had been until they had reached the loading station. No weapons, no transport, not even a map that would have helped lead him out of this damn maze. He had been going down the latest in an endless number of identical tunnels when he had heard movement behind him. Turning around he got a split second glimpse of John Conner and the reprogrammed T-800 before they opened fire on him, not even getting a chance to reach for his own guns. The bullets only lasted for instant but they were sufficient to buy the two of them enough time to retreat. Drawing both his handguns Skynet ran after them. He had the advantage now, and one more dead human, along with a destroyed terminator, would make things that much easier for him when he found Radical Edward.

Well the start of the plan had been a resounding success. They now had Skynet's undivided attention and he was currently chasing the two of them. Now came the difficult portion of part one, not dying until they could get to part two. Hearing the crack of gunfire from behind him along with the sound of bullets whizzing by didn't exactly infuse John with confidence. The near miss that made part of the tunnel wall explode next to his face as they turned a corner wasn't much help either.

"GAH!" John cried in response to the face full of dust and rocks.

"Are you hit?" Arnold asked, not turning around.

"No no I'm all right!" John replied as he wiped the debris off his face, thankful nothing had cut him. Then he got a look at just where they were. "I was all right." After turning that corner they were now in a very long, very straight section of tunnel with no visible branches except at the very end. They might as well be in a shooting range once Skynet turned that corner.

"Don't stop running and do not turn around, no matter what." Arnold ordered. He was all too aware of their vulnerability and had already run dozens of scenarios that would enable them to reach the other end. He had settled on the most viable even before he had given instructions to John. The only component missing was Skynet himself. Listening very carefully he heard the liquid metal terminator's footsteps shift and change in tempo as he turned the corner. Turning his upper body around in a way no human could hope to match while still running forward Arnold aimed low and emptied the rest of his clip at Skynet. The bullets to the lower legs and knees caused the other terminator to stumble and even though it was still running forward its' aim would be ruined for the next several seconds. That bought them a little time. To buy them even more Arnold pulled the trigger of the grenade launcher, aiming low on the wall slightly in front of Skynet. As his calculations predicted the explosion blew Skynet off his feet, bounced him off the opposite wall, and knocked him onto his back when he landed. He started getting up immediately but by the time he could draw a bead on his targets John and Arnold had already turned a second corner out of his line of sight. Snarling Skynet got to his feet and restarted the pursuit.

It had taken a lot of willpower for John to not turn around and see just what had happened to Skynet but since the bullets had (temporarily) stopped flying he decided that it was worth not looking. Now that he had the time to think he went over in his head just what they had to do to complete their part of the plan. They couldn't get too far ahead of Skynet or make any random turns that would make him loose their trail. Arnold was running at a fast pace but lower then his full speed so both Skynet and John would have a chance to keep up. That was good, they would be able to lead Skynet just where they wanted him to go. In turn that brought up the second potential roadblock in this plan.

"How long until we get to the others?" John asked quietly so Skynet wouldn't hear him.

"Just keep running." Arnold replied. John didn't know if he meant that they'd be there soon and he didn't want Skynet to hear, or if they were a long ways off and their odds were getting worse.

In actuality it was a slight variation of John's second thought. Arnold knew that if John was made aware just how far they were from their goal there was a good chance he would be tempted, even if only subconsciously, to slow down when they got close to the end. If he didn't know just how far they had to go he would continue to run at full speed and not put himself in danger. John had found running at a constant sprint surprising easy to do since Arnold had to stay ahead of him so they'd stay on track and made him even more vulnerable. Knowing that you were most likely to be the first one hit, especially if you lagged behind in any way, did wonders for ignoring fatigue. Thankfully Arnold had thought ahead and was leading them down the path where they had to turn the most corners in order to keep John out of Skynet's line of fire for as long as possible.

As Arnold led them through the tunnels John did begin to notice changes in their surroundings. The track they ran beside them and the stone walls soon turned to concrete floors and steel walls. The walls and ceiling were lined with bundles of thick wires and pipes, some that were painted red with yellow warning signs that made John flinch even more when he heard a bullet ricochet. Rooms they passed were little more then large storage spaces filled with boxes, tools and spare parts. There were fewer and fewer turns now and Skynet's aim was starting to improve. John felt the bullets coming closer and closer and knew that it wouldn't be long before he finally had his sights dialed in but he also saw the literal light at the end of the tunnel. They were fast approaching an archway that led into an open area, and in the center of that area was a long, tube shaped metal structure that had metal bridges leading to it at various heights. There was also an intense green glow coming from below them but at that moment it was secondary to actually getting out there. Unfortunately Skynet saw that as well and knew that if he let them get into that open area they would have a chance to loose him for good, or at least set up the ambush they were undoubtedly planning. It appeared that they had found another area that contained the toxic chemicals from before and intended to let them finish the job they weren't able to the last time. He knew that he couldn't give the humans a second chance with what they knew could truly hurt him and since he was having trouble hitting a moving target he decided to aim for a stationary one, namely one of the pipes running along the wall with the sign 'Danger: Flammable' painted on it. The first bullet punched a neat hole in the pipe itself, the next one he fired at an angle to make sure it would spark and ignite the gas inside. With a fwoosh the spark did it's job and now the pipe was spraying out fire like a flamethrower, blocking the exit of the tunnel.

Arnold had heard the two shots and was already calculating what to do in response to what Skynet was attempting even before the gas ignited. Once he saw the flash of fire he stopped, turned, grabbed John by his shirt with one hand and threw him into one of the storage rooms connected to the main tunnel. Before John had even hit the floor Arnold ran after him, turning back to fire a burst at the pursuing Skynet. All of his shots hit the liquid metal terminator in the chest but Arnold could also see the smile on his face as the bullets struck home. It was easy to understand what was behind it. He had just cornered the two of them like he had Kyle.

Of course neither of them had any intention of just lying down to die. When John hit the floor he rolled to the left of the doorway and scrambled to his feet, taking cover between two rows of metal shelves several aisles deep away from the entrance. He saw Arnold run in and take up position behind a row of shelves at the opposite side of the entrance.

"So what's the plan?" John asked as he dropped the nearly empty clip from his gun and inserted a fresh one. Taking stock of their surroundings he knew they were in big trouble. It was a fairly large room they had run into, at least a hundred by a hundred fifty feet. But it was filled with almost randomly placed crates and rows of shelves containing boxes and equally randomly placed tools and pieces of junk. Most importantly of all, there was no exit other then the one they had just come in.

"I distract him." Arnold explained as he tossed the empty clip of his own weapon and loaded a full one. "You get out while he's distracted and work your way to the silo. The vents twenty yards back will take you up to a higher level. I will keep you covered."

"I don't think…" John began.

"No arguments." Arnold interrupted in forceful tone as he chambered the first bullet. "I am expendable, you are not." He said with finality.

"You're both expendable." Skynet stated before John could respond. Looking back towards the entrance they saw Skynet casually walking into the room, raising his arms out to the side so that each gun was pointed to cover one half of the room, and started firing almost blindly. John found himself on the wrong end of the .357 Magnum and dropped to a crouch while Arnold didn't move and returned fire as he was shot again and again with the less powerful nine-millimeter Glock rounds. But Skynet had found out what he wanted to know, where the easier target was. After adjusting his aim slightly so he was shooting Arnold in the face and throwing off his fire Skynet took more deliberate aim with the Magnum at John. John dove between two rows of shelves just as Skynet fired and he saw the bullet make one of the boxes on them explode before feeling it pass right over him. To his surprise he saw Skynet calmly lower the weapon and just stare at him with a blank look. It was weird that he was acting so calm and collected while casually shooting Arnold in the head and ignoring the bullets that were hitting him in the back. It got even weirder when a third hand grew out of Skynet's stomach, opened the cylinder of the revolver, and began the process of ejecting the empty casings and loading in new bullets.

Up until a couple of months ago a sight like that might have made John hesitate, or possibly freeze up completely. After his time with the Bebop crew, stuff like this had become almost boringly normal. As such he was able to react as he was trained to. When a perp was reloading or distracted, take the advantage and return fire! He stood up, took aim despite the cramped conditions, and fired a rapid but controlled series of shots into Skynet's face. The machine's only response was to keep reloading his first gun, continue to give himself cover with the second, and take several steps towards the shooter. John kept on firing and was ready to move when Skynet started shooting again but the machine decided to give him a surprise and instead of bringing his gun up he kicked the first shelf in front of him. The force was enough to make it tip over and slam into the one behind it, causing it to fall over like a domino. John was behind the third one and barely had any time to move before the shelf and everything that was on it came down on him. There was a loud crash and he suddenly felt a very heavy weight on his legs. It was a crushing weight but there wasn't any pain and he could move them, barely, but looking behind him he saw that both legs were securely pinned underneath the shelf that had almost squashed him. He turned back as he realized something else, he was now immobile and out in the open. Skynet couldn't have asked for a better target. The even bigger sadistic smile on the machine's face as he snapped the cylinder closed and began to turn the gun towards him told John that Skynet was all too aware of it. Arnold had slung his MP5 and was rushing to physically attack Skynet but he wouldn't make it before he fired. Determined not to give the machine any satisfaction John brought up his own pistol in one last show of defiance. Well it would have been one last show of defiance if the distinctive sound of a shotgun blast and the giant hole suddenly appearing in Skynet's arm and side, making him involuntarily jerk to the side and kept that sure to be fatal bullet from firing. John didn't have time to figure out just what had happened as Arnold tackled Skynet and carried him out of the storage room back into the main tunnel. John fought to get his legs free as he heard more gun fire from the tunnel and once he realized that he wasn't going to get out just by pulling he started reaching around in the scattered junk on the floor for something to help pry himself loose.

Moments before:

"We're almost there." Jet announced as he began to see a familiar green glow ahead of them. "Everyone stick close and be careful. Arnold said that this stuff gets more dangerous the closer you are and we're going to be at near the bottom."

"None of us really wants to end up glowing in the dark Jet." Faye sarcastically replied. For once Jet was actually glad to be getting some back talk from Faye. After finding out that John was alive she, Ed and Meifa had been in better spirits. They weren't in truly good spirits yet of course. That wouldn't happen until all this was over and everyone was safe. Unfortunately there was a good chance not all of them would come out of this, and that unspoken possibility was always hanging over their heads. If she was going to be snippy at him that showed that she at least willing to believe that all of them would come through this all right.

"Just making sure everyone is on the same page." Jet answered as they stepped out of the tunnel they had been traveling down. The mammoth size of the silo itself gave a dwarfing effect on everything around it. Combined with the eerie green glow of the toxic waste pooled on the floor it was an almost intimidating sight.

"So there's our best bet." Spike remarked, looking at the towering structure. "Think it'll be enough to do the job?" It wasn't that he didn't believe the plan would work, but the fact that everything else they had tried so far technically did 'work' but the actual end results had been less then they had been hoping for.

"If it doesn't I'm going to toss John in that sludge and see how long it takes him to start glowing in the dark." Jet almost growled.

"Ed thinks that big brother John would make a very good nightlight! Ed and Ein would never have to look for midnight snacks in the dark again!" Ed declared. To her side Ed barked in agreement. Everyone allowed themselves a slight smile at that one. If that didn't show Ed's confidence in John to survive nothing did.

"As good a reason that is we'll just have to hold off on that until we actually meet back up with him." Jet said as they started walking along the platform that lead to one of the silo entrances. "I don't know if we beat them here so we'll have to…." Before he could finish the sentence they heard several loud cracks and saw flashes of gunfire coming from another tunnel on the opposite side of the silo. Two of the louder cracks were followed by what looked like a small explosion that turned into a wall of flame blocking the tunnel entrance.

"You guys might want to head up to the control booth and get things ready. I'll be right back." Spike said without warning before taking off in a sprint towards the blocked tunnel.

"Spike!" Jet called after him but of course Spike didn't even seem to hear him. "I should have seen that one coming." He grumbled to himself before turning towards the others. "It's his choice so let's get going." He said, knowing they wouldn't be able to call him back.

Running over to the tunnel entrance Spike was wondering whether he'd have to fully take over the role as bait in this little plan since it looked like that fire had been started expressly for the purpose of trapping whoever was in that tunnel. John and Arnold might be able to hold off Skynet for a little bit but if they were cornered they wouldn't last long. As he got to the tunnel entrance he got a confirmation that he wouldn't be able to slip by the jet of flame without turning himself into a human fireball. That meant plan C was in order. If you couldn't get around or go through an obstacle, get rid of it. Normally he would accomplish that with a liberal amount of high explosives but since that wasn't an option here he took a more low key approach. Noting which pipe the fire was coming from he traced its path out of the tunnel to where it was bolted onto the walls of the blast pit. Picking a spot far enough away to be safe but close enough to be in range Spike brought the shotgun up and fired. He saw holes being punched through the pipe and the fire flickered but didn't go out. Good, that meant the gas feeding the fire was coming from that direction. With that bit of encouragement he pumped and fired two more times and tore the pipe almost in half, which was more then enough to stop the gas flow and snuff out the fire. Moving inside the tunnel he heard more gunfire coming from a room to his right and cautiously stepped into the entrance. Sure enough Skynet was standing there, firing a Glock at someone behind him with one hand and taking aim at someone else on the floor with a large revolver. Judging by the insane smile he had on his face the one on the floor had to be John, nothing like having a helpless target to bring out the worst in someone. Spike didn't hesitate and fired into Skynet's side, up near the shoulder. The damage to the arm and the force of the blast was enough to spoil his aim and kept him from firing. He didn't have much time to dwell on that as Arnold suddenly came out of nowhere and hit Skynet like a linebacker, knocking him off his feet, picking him up and carrying him out of the room. Spike was able to jump out of the way in time to avoid getting trampled and watched as Arnold kept running and slammed Skynet into the opposite wall. Pipes bent and snapped while reinforced steel crumpled from the impact but thankfully nothing else caught fire or exploded. The one thing that did happen however….

"YOU!" Skynet shouted when he saw Spike, even as he was turning a portion of the wall into a crater.

"And they said that me sticking around to look for John while they went back into space was a bad idea." He said with a smile on his face. "Looks like my luck is still with me." He added with a touch of pride. Skynet of course didn't take the joke very well if the furious look on his face was anything to go by. He fired several shots of his Glock point blank into Arnold's head to get him to let go but the only thing that did was waste the last of the pistol's ammunition. Once the slide locked back Skynet tossed the empty weapon away, grabbed the back of Arnold's head with his now free hand, set his feet and used the newfound leverage he had to twist and slam Arnold face first down into an undamaged section of wall. Spike inwardly winced when he actually felt the blow vibrate the ground he was standing on and watched as Arnold's head caused a smaller but deeper crater then the one Skynet had created. But Spike had problems of his own to deal with as the liquid metal terminator started to level the large Magnum at him over the hunched Arnold. He couldn't shoot it out of his hand at this angle, or Skynet either for that matter since he was using Arnold as a shield, and if he tried to dive out of the way Skynet would blast him like a clay pigeon. Fortunately the fact he had a revolver allowed Spike to use a trick he hadn't had an opportunity to try in a while. Unlike most people who tended to watch the barrel of the weapon they were staring down Spike kept his eye on the gun's hammer. Revolver's hammers always fell just a bit slower then semiauto's and unlike the internal hammer that most handguns had he could actually watch this one move. The instant he saw the hammer begin to move forward he twisted to the side, knowing even Skynet wouldn't be able to adjust his aim while in the middle of firing. The old trick still worked and the bullet missed him completely. On the other hand when he had twisted he had inadvertently raised his shotgun and the bullet scored a direct hit on that instead. The gun was a sturdy build but it had never been designed to actually be shot with round as powerful as the .357 and the bullet ended up passing right through the receiver, shattering it and spraying Spike with shrapnel.

"Son of a bitch!" Spike yelled as he felt the metal shards imbed themselves in his hands and arms. He dropped the gun, not because of the pain but one look at the wrecked receiver showed him that it was now useless and even dangerous to try to fire the loaded shell. Skynet meanwhile was taking advantage of the temporary distraction and started to pull the trigger a second time. What Skynet didn't know was that it had only taken a fraction of a second for Spike to gauge the damage done by the first shot and to completely ignore his superficial wounds. He saw Skynet adjusting his aim and lashed out with a kick that knocked the weapon out of Skynet's hand just as it went off. Spike saw the bullet shatter one of the lights, which began throwing sparks, but the gun itself bounced off the opposite wall and skidded behind him, out of Skynet's reach. At the same time Arnold brought his arm up and elbowed Skynet in the stomach, causing the latter to almost double over. Not amused at the double team Skynet responded by standing up, yanking Arnold's head out of the wall, then kneeing him in the stomach. Now that Arnold was doubled even further over Skynet interlocked his hands, raised them over his head, and brought them down on the back of Arnold's skull with all the force he could manage. It was more then enough to sprawl Arnold out on the floor but Skynet wasn't done yet. He grabbed the back of Arnold's neck with one hand, his ammo belt with the other; picked him up as easily as most people would a small sack of potatoes, then threw him at Spike with just as much ease. Spike was barely able to avoid the full brunt of the unwilling projectile and Arnold himself twisted midflight to avoid hitting him but he still caught Spike by the shoulder. With the weight and speed Arnold was going at even that light tap was enough to knock Spike aside and send him to the ground.

"What was that about luck?" Skynet growled as he marched towards his downed adversaries, shifting his arms into spikes as he did. He might not be able to finish the T-800 off quickly but Spike was unarmed and down so this was the easiest it was going to get. Easy quickly turned back into problematic as something slammed into his back and started to pull.

Spike and Arnold had started to get to their feet the moment they hit the ground but only Spike had landed in such a way so that he could see Skynet coming at them. He was confident he could dodge any of Skynet's swings but out of the corner of his eye he saw something that Skynet didn't. John was running out of the room Arnold and Skynet had come flying from of a moment earlier and made a beeline towards the oblivious liquid metal machine, winding up for a swing with a red and gray crowbar. Spike expected him to go for a baseball style swing and try to knock Skynet's head off but instead John swung the tool like a golf club, burying the curved end in Skynet's back like a fishhook. John set his feet and pulled the crowbar to the side with all his strength, hoping that Skynet didn't just let it yank out of his back like something being pulled free from the mud. Thankfully Skynet had been too surprised by the unseen attack to partially liquefy the portion of his body that the crowbar had dug into. As a result when John swung the imbedded weapon Skynet went with it, stumbling to stay on his feet like a normal person would if they were being yanked around by their clothes. Once Skynet had been spun in the opposite direction John twisted the crowbar and pulled, freeing it and allowing Skynet to continue his headlong rush into the wall. He hit it face first with a dull thud but it didn't faze him as much as John hoped it would. In fact it didn't look like it had fazed him at all as the instant Skynet hit his whole body turned a reflective gray color and shifted his form so that his 'back' had turned into his front in the blink of an eye. Even his hands and feet had reversed themselves and it look like he had been thrown back first into the wall. Shifting one hand into a serrated metal pike and the other into a scythe Skynet marched forward to continue his attack.

"John!" Looking behind him at the sound of the shout John saw Spike was actually running towards Skynet. When he saw he had John's attention he clapped his hands once and held them open, the near universal sign for 'toss it here'. Without thinking he threw the crowbar into the air in front of Spike, who caught it one handed without even looking or slowing down. Only after Spike had run past him did John ask himself the obvious.

(What the hell does he think he's doing? ….And why the hell did I just go along with it?!) This was the exact opposite of what they had planed and for some reason he had instinctively trusted Spike's reasoning behind it, though he had told nobody what the blazes that reasoning was. Even Skynet seemed a bit surprised that someone was actually charging straight at him with no gun. Though not so surprised that he didn't swing his scythe hand once Spike got within arm's reach. The human's response was to dodge it with what looked like almost laughable ease.

"Thought you might like a chance for a rematch." Spike said an instant before hitting Skynet across the face with the crowbar with enough force to make his head twist around. "Considering how lousy you did last time." He added when Skynet's head turned back towards him. This time he stabbed at the human's stomach with the pike only to have Spike deflect it to the side with the crowbar like a swordfighter would. "Figured I would give you a better chance this time, no guns or explosives." He stated before swinging the crowbar upward and catching Skynet on the chin, snapping his head back and causing him to stumble backwards. Pressing his advantage he then landed a kick to the center of Skynet's chest, making him stumble back farther. Once Skynet regained his balance and set his eyes back on Spike they could see he was already at full boil. So Spike decided to turn up the heat by standing in a casual, almost lazy, stance while absentmindedly throwing the crowbar up and catching it while it spun and having the most bored look he could manage plastered on his face. "You know if you fight the same in a computer as you do out here no wonder Ed was able to kick your ass so easily."

And that turned out to be the magic phrase. With a scream of incoherent rage Skynet charged forward with his scythe arm raised, ready to cut Spike in half with one swing. Spike's demeanor didn't change and he simply waited until Skynet had started to swing before dodging to the side and hitting Skynet over the back of the head with his crowbar, almost sending him back into the wall. Skynet stumbled to a stop, turned, and charged headlong at Spike again. Not that far away John and Arnold watched as Spike continued to mock Skynet and make him angrier. John had picked up the Magnum once Spike had begun distracting Skynet and when he saw the machine go into a rage he raised it to give Spike support but to his surprise Arnold put his hand on top of the gun and pushed it down.

"That's not what he wants." He stated.

"Well then what the hell does he want?" John hissed back in confusion, debating whether to ignore Arnold's protest and shoot anyway.

"For us not to interfere." Was Arnold's only reply. John was about to know how he could have possibly known that but then he realized one thing. The way Spike was fighting didn't give any real opportunities for cover fire, not even in the subtlest way. Whatever he was doing he was doing without the thought of John or Arnold helping him, and leaving the two of them with absolutely no idea what was really going on.

As it was Spike had already gotten one of two things out of Skynet, he had gotten him royally pissed off. Most would consider that insane but Spike did have a method behind this madness. While Skynet wasn't really a person he had the thoughts and emotions of a regular human being along with his robotic way of thinking. When a person fights mad they get sloppy, focusing on destroying whatever was making them mad and not factoring in the risks they might have noticed otherwise. More importantly they got predictable since being mad didn't exactly contribute to forming coherent thoughts and battle plans. As a machine whose most baseline thinking was rigid programming Skynet fell into that more quickly then any human would, and Spike could see the pattern emerging already. Slash with the scythe, followed upward swing with the pike hoping to cut him, a backhanded slash with the scythe followed by a stab attempt with the pike. All he had to do was make sure his blows got him the results he wanted. Hitting Skynet across the face almost at random along blocking or parrying his attacks with the same puny weapon only infuriated Skynet further, making his pattern that much easier to read. Once he got to know where exactly Skynet's blows would land should they connect he had everything he needed, all that was left to do was reel the machine in. He started by slowing his blocks, dodges and parries to the point that it looked like he was barely making them in time. Second he made his own hits with the crowbar less forceful, less damaging. Skynet took them as a sign he was wearing the human down and became more aggressive in his attacks, 'forcing' Spike to retreat. Knowing he had to get the timing just right Spike waited until the next attack coming was a stab and let the blow preceding it, a slash from the scythe arm, knock the crowbar out of his hand. Sensing triumph Skynet drew back the arm with the pike and lunged straight at Spike with it. This was what Spike had been waiting for. Instead of just dodging to the left or right Spike leapt up and forward, leapfrogging over Skynet and grabbing onto one of the pipes on the ceiling, one that he kind of hoped was made out of plastic. Skynet meanwhile continued his lunge because of his forward momentum, which only stopped when his pike arm impaled a large bunch of thick and particularly important looking wires clamped to the wall. Spike was already shimmying along the pipe but he looked back for an instant to see Skynet stiffen up when his pike hit the wires. They had been high voltage ones all right.

Spike stopped watching after that to concentrate on where he was going but Arnold and John had front row seats as Skynet stood rigidly but convulsing at the same time while his face was contorting in agony. It almost looked like he was trying to fight the current that was being pumped into him but that didn't last long as he opened his mouth.

"GeeeeeeeaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA!" The scream that came out slowly devolved from near human sounding into a high-pitched shriek that sounded almost like one of those stone age modems when it was dialing up. What they saw next made them almost forget about what they were hearing. It might have been the liquid metal's unique construction, or it just might have been the sheer amount of voltage being forced through but electricity actually started arching out of Skynet. Miniature lightning sprang off of him at random intervals and blanketed the area around him in a small-scale electrical storm. Pipes burned and metal was blackened, even chunks of the concrete floor near his feet were blasted out as easily as if it had been done with high explosives, but the most pronounced effect was from the lights that lined the tunnel's ceiling. Starting just above Skynet the bulbs started exploding in sequence going in both directions. The domino like effect quickly caught up to Spike and he flinched when the one right in front of him blew but all it did was make his eyes sting for a second. It was also kind of funny because it was that first light blowing after being shot out that had given him this idea in the first place. If he could fry Skynet now there would be no need to take the larger risks involved in their original plan. All in all Spike thought it was fairly clever of him. Skynet didn't find it so clever, or funny, as he was still doing a convincing impression of a tesla coil, throwing lightning in every direction, which was accompanied by his unending scream. Finally the electrical fail-safes kicked in and the entire tunnel was plunged into darkness, which in turn made Skynet's scream cut out like a switch had been flipped. Spike dropped down from the ceiling and made his way over to John and Arnold, using the shadows caused by the glow from the toxic spill to guide him. Before anyone could say anything a low pitched, droning alarm began blaring and emergency lights began switching on, bathing the entire tunnel in an eerie red tinged glow that allowed them to both see clearly and feel like they were still in the dark. Ignoring the alarm they looked towards Skynet, who was still frozen stock still, his mouth open in a silent agonized scream. The area immediately around him was blackened and still smoking but nothing had exploded, yet. As tense seconds ticked by Skynet remained motionless and silent.

"Does that mean he's dead?" Spike asked Arnold without taking his eyes off the still unmoving Skynet. Arnold was about to reply that he didn't know when Spike got his answer in the worst possible way. It wasn't that much to start with, just Skynet's pike arm dislodging from the wall and swinging slowly to a stop at his side. Then the same thing happened with the other arm, giving them the hope that Skynet was about to pitch over and that would be the end of it. That thought lasted until Skynet's upper body began to fall forward, then stopped itself. As all of them, even Spike, watched in stunned silence Skynet's pike arm slowly shifted back to a normal arm and hand and he began to turn towards them, shaking slightly like a person who was suffering a minor seizure. His facial expression changed a lot more easily then his appendage and they could see how angry the look on his face was. Combined with the almost feral way he was hunched over, the small wisps smoke that were rising off him, and the red lighting of the tunnel it made Skynet look demonic. He didn't speak any words but seemed to be growling at them, a combination of fury and the pain of the electrocution he had just endured. To their surprise his first action was to look towards the floor and once they followed his line of sight they saw what he was looking at. The Glock he had thrown away earlier was lying about a dozen feet or so in front of him, just outside the damaged area he stood in. He started lurching forward like some sort of zombie from the movies, one ridged step at a time, and began reaching for the weapon, the look on his face was still one of pure pain and fury but slowly he formed a teeth bared smile that just screamed 'All out of bright ideas now aren't you?'.

"No." Was John's unbelieving response to what he saw happening. He had believed their plan would have been enough to finish Skynet but after seeing him survive that with only slight motor damage that seemed to be getting better with each step he probably would be able to weather what they had originally had in store for him. All their planning, all their effort to protect Ed and Meifa, the losses they had suffered, all of it was all of it was being proved to be futile right in front of his eyes. It really was hopeless, they never did stand a chance at winning this fight. The moment that thought entered John's head he became angry. Angry at himself for even thinking such a thing, and furious at Skynet for putting that thought in there. He would not admit defeat, not now! But how could they stop him?! What could they possibly do?! Frustration mounting he raised the Magnum. "WHY… WON'T…YOU…DIE?!" He shouted, punctuating each word with a pull of the trigger. Skynet didn't seem to acknowledge the bullets hitting him as he picked up his Glock, but he did seem to be flinching more when the rounds impacting him, like they had more power behind them now. Then came the last bullet.

It was a simple shot to the upper arm, something that Skynet would have been able to shrug off before, if not outright ignore. This time however was different. Instead of just causing a hole and warping the liquid metal it actually blew a piece of the arm right off. That was strange, what was stranger was Skynet hissing and grabbing the shot area like a human being would. Then things took a real turn as the look of pain on Skynet's face changed into one of horrified realization. The other three couldn't understand what it was when they heard it. It was the sound of sizzling meat, loud enough to be heard over the droning alarm. A second later the smell was noticeable. It wasn't the smell of cooking flesh but the smell of scorched and burning metal. Looking towards where both things seemed to be coming from all four of them got a surprise. The portion of Skynet's body that had been blasted off by that last bullet was splattered in several places on the wall, where it was bubbling and giving off streams of smoke. As they watched one of the smaller drops seemed to shrink slowly and disappear, looking for all intents and purposes like it was evaporating. That was when all three of them realized what was going on. Skynet was weakening. He had needed to be shot, blown up, thrown into a vat of toxic chemicals, frozen then shattered then reassembled again, and to top it all off shocked with enough electricity to power a small town but he was finally weakening. Skynet was all too aware of it as well and frantically grabbed the pieces of himself off the wall to reabsorb them before they broke down completely. Once he had all the pieces he could save he looked back at the humans and T-800, watching to see what their next move would be as he pushed an ammo clip that had somehow survived the electrocution into his gun. He should try to escape, assess the damage done to his system and go after them later, but all three of them now knew of something else that could truly hurt him. Something that that unlike the toxic waste could be made into a weapon later, something that could easily and safely be used by almost anyone. He couldn't allow them to leave with that information and snapped the slide of the gun forward.

"And that's our cue to leave." Spike said, seeing the fight in Skynet's eyes return as he chambered the Glock. He and John turned to run out while Arnold covered them with a burst from his MP5 before following.

"Arnold, try to blast him into that crud!" John called over his shoulder as they made their way down the walkway towards the silo entrance. He threw the revolver into the pool of toxic waste so no one else would be able to use it. Arnold waited until he heard Skynet run out of the tunnel and onto the walkway behind them before he turned and fired his grenade launcher at the wall next to the lagging machine. The explosion engulfed Skynet but as it faded Arnold could see him standing on the walkway with not one but three arms extending from one side which had a death grip on the metal wall. He also noticed the shrapnel damage was taking much longer to fade but it was still healing and Skynet was able to start after them again with an unsteady, limping run. Spike and John saw it to and knew it would give them plenty of time to lure him inside the silo and get to safety before Skynet knew what was happening. Of course the moment they thought the universe decided to have another laugh at their expense when they saw everyone else standing outside the silo waiting for them.

"You stayed?!" Spike shouted incredulously as they started hearing gunshots behind them. Turning to look sure enough Skynet had seen what they had and was now running faster to catch up with them now that he had Ed in his sights.

"So we decided to take a page from your book and do something really stupid, sue us!" Jet snapped back as they all ran through the door.

"What about the kids?!" John added as got a good look at the interior of the silo. The giant rocket engine was positioned over a cavernous exhaust port in the center of the room. On the walls surrounding it there were three levels of walkways that had ladders leading to the next level, along with doors leading to a different section of the blast pit. Unfortunately the ladders only went one level down and the next one was clear on the other side of the room! He was about to start cursing whoever designed this place when Jet answered him.

"They refused to move and I can't climb ladders without using my arms!" He explained as he picked Ein up and put him on Meifa's shoulders, almost like a scarf. "Keep going and don't look back, not for anything." He told Meifa. "Try to hold on tight little buddy." He told Ein, who responded with a whine that said 'That's easy for you to say' before Meifa ran for the first ladder and began climbing. "Ed, you're next, then you John. Keep an eye one her." He added in the most serious tone John had ever heard him use. "Faye after that and we'll cover you." He said as Ed was already climbing the ladder surprising fast for using only one hand since Tomato was tucked underneath her arm.

"Sure you'll be alright?" John shouted over his shoulder as he moved to follow Ed.

"Just keep going!" Jet shouted in response. John really didn't like the sound of that but he kept going, climbing up and onto the first level walkway. He started sprinting after Ed but took a moment to look back at the others. Faye wasn't having as easy a time as Ed did climbing ladders one handed but fear and adrenaline more then made up for it and she was able to drag herself up without help. Turning his attention back towards he goal he saw that Meifa had already made it up to the second level while he and Ed were closing in on the second ladder. Spike and Jet were making their way up the first ladder and things were almost starting to look up. That's when the gunfire started.

Arnold had stationed himself in the doorway to allow his large frame to block it and watched through the MP5's sights as Skynet ran towards him. He didn't use any more grenades, he would need them for later, and didn't want to use the main gun until it would do the most good. Skynet also refrained from shooting, undoubtedly because he didn't want to waste any more ammunition on Arnold's endoskeleton. He was also smart enough to run hunched over so that Arnold couldn't target his legs and knees this time. When Skynet got within the optimum position Arnold squeezed the trigger and held it, sending a stream of lead into Skynet as he charged forward. The damage caused by the onslaught was much more destructive, holes were bigger and more ragged, not closing nearly as fast as they normally would. Still they didn't deter Skynet, who only sprinted faster the last dozen or so yards and lunged upward at Arnold, hitting him with enough force to knock him several feet off the ground and dislodging the gun from his grip. Arnold landed on his back with a thud and started to sit up when Skynet stomped onto his face and slammed his head back into the ground. After that he staggered away from the T-800, he didn't have time to deal with the traitor now. Priorities came first. Looking around the massive silo he saw the humans were divided among the levels of walkways but he only cared about one of them. He saw what he was looking for climbing up onto the second level. He waited only until she had climbed up completely to give him the best possible target before raising his gun and fired. It missed her by a wide margin. His arm was unsteady and his targeting skills hampered by the electric jolt but he fired again, closer this time. By now the other humans had started firing on him but that was irrelevant, no matter how many times they scored hits. Only one mattered now, one all consuming thought in him. Kill…that… child. His next shot passed just in front of Radical Edward's face, making her falter and fall. He had her now.

The gunfire wasn't what made them stop and look at what was happening, they had been expecting that. When they heard Arnold crashing to the ground everyone, just for a split second, glanced down to see what was going on. They saw Skynet, his face and upper torso ripped apart from the barrage of fire he had just waded thorough, stomp on Arnold's head before staggering away from him like he was drunk. He looked up and around at a frantic pace before setting his sights on what he was after. He raised his gun and fired, making Faye, Spike and Jet draw their own guns, then shot a second time, which made all three of them respond in kind. Even on the run they were able to score hit after hit but Skynet was undeterred and fired a third time. They heard shouting above but they also saw something far more frightening. Skynet had started to smile.

John had been climbing the ladder when he heard the bullets crack by above him. He didn't turn around to see what was happening, he already knew. He doubled his efforts and a second later a second shot went by. This time it was answered from even more gunfire from below him. He managed to pull himself up and onto the second level and turn towards Ed just as a third shot came, making her stop suddenly and fall. If Skynet was able to get that good of a shot on a moving target and under fire he wouldn't miss with the next one. If Ed got up and ran she'd only make herself a bigger target so that left one thing.

"Ed, time to play football!" John shouted as he raced towards her. Ed reacted instantly, curling herself up into a ball and not moving. The shot came and because she had minimized her target profile Skynet missed and the bullet buried itself in the wall. Knowing that would only buy him a second John didn't say anything and scooped Ed up off the ground without breaking stride. He kept his upper body turned away from the center of the room; completely hiding Ed from view and didn't slow down even when the bullets started buzzing all around him even faster.

On the ground Skynet fired what he thought would be the final bullet of his revenge as he heard John Connor shouting some kind of nonsense but Radical Edward suddenly changed positions, tucking her head in just as he pulled the trigger. The shot missed and in the momentary confusion he saw Connor run forward and pick up the hacker, carrying her towards the final ladder and blocking her from sight. The other humans had stopped firing and were making their way up the ladders while the T-800 had managed to stand and moved to recover its weapon. Radical Edward was going to slip through his grasp AGAIN! He couldn't allow, he wouldn't allow the humans to beat him again, not after so many humiliations. Grabbing his shooting wrist with his other hand to steady it Skynet started firing at Connor as fast as his damaged targeting and motor systems would allow.

As he ran John had one train of thought as he heard the bullets whizzing by him.

(Hit me but don't hit Ed. Hit me but don't hit Ed. Hit me but don't hit Ed.) If he went down at least he'd be a suitable shield until Skynet ran out of bullets and Ed could make a run for it. He had made it half way around the room thinking that same mantra when he suddenly stumbled and fell forward. Despite his surprise he was able to angle himself so he bore the brunt of the fall on his shoulder, not on Ed or on his back and exposing her to fire. As he was berating himself for being so clumsy at a time like this he began to get to his feet, only for his left leg to give out on him again. Thinking he had become caught on something he looked back and saw two things. One was that Faye wasn't that far behind them. That was good. What wasn't so good was that his pant leg at the knee was now soaked in blood and had a very noticeable hole in it. He tried to move it but it wouldn't respond, and as the pain started to creep in he knew the truth, his knee had been shot out. He wouldn't be able to stand on that leg, let alone run on it, and that made him officially useless for protecting Ed outside of being a bullet absorber until Skynet stopped firing. Getting some good luck with the bad he heard Arnold's MP5 start firing and Skynet's bullets stopped clanging around them. Looking down he saw Skynet staggering under Arnold's fire as his gun was knocked out of his hand and knew they had to act now.

"John!" He heard Faye shout as she came over to the two of them. "Is Ed ok?!" She asked.

"She's fine." John replied as he let go of Ed and she stood up. "Take her and keep going!" He ordered, hissing as the pain in his knee became more pronounced.

"But what about…" Faye began to protest.

"I SAID RUN YOU IDIOT!" John yelled at her before she could finish. No he wasn't okay but they didn't know if Skynet would be able to get his gun back and start taking potshots again and Ed was still his primary target. Faye needed to get her out of here and worry about him later. He would ask Spike and Jet for help when they got there but right now he wasn't important! Faye seemed to realize that and though reluctant to leave him she grabbed Ed's arm and led her towards the final ladder. Ed didn't protest but she did look back at John, who waved her on with one hand and braced the other to get to his feet. Satisfied that John would be joining them in a minute she turned her attention towards getting to the ladder.

Getting there in a minute was thinking very optimistically John realized as stood up and fell against the wall and almost back onto the floor face first. Concentrating on keeping his balance he used one arm to brace himself on the wall and was able to take short hops forwards on his good leg, very short hops. He didn't have much time to dwell on that as an explosion from below shook the wall and almost made him loose his balance. Looking down he saw Skynet sprawled on the floor of the silo slowly getting up, about a dozen feet from a blasted out ladder. Not that far away Arnold was putting a new clip of bullets in as he positioned himself between Skynet and the door. The next thing John knew Spike and Jet were on either side of him, grabbed him underneath the arms, and were carrying him towards the ladder. John had been worried he would slow them down if he asked for help but since both of them were still going at a run that was at least one worry that had been unfounded. Once they actually got to the ladder John let out a squawk of surprise as the two of them lifted him up and his shirt was grabbed from above by five hands that proceeded to pull/drag him up and onto the final level like a giant fish being landed.

Once John had been dragged up Jet nodded to Spike, who started up the ladder as he turned back towards the two machines on the floor.

"Arnold, make your way to the door and get ready to move when we tell you!" He shouted down. He turned around and moved towards the ladder, expecting an instant affirmation to the order.

"Don't worry." Arnold shouted back as he fired a burst at Skynet's legs as he rushed towards the exit, causing him to falter. Jet thought that was a bit of a weird answer but didn't think it was anything to be concerned about. As he climbed up to the last level he saw Spike and Faye helping John to his feet. Once he was standing Faye all but shoved Spike away as she put John's arm around her good shoulder and supported the weight he couldn't put on his useless leg. Jet almost made a smart remark at the scene when the sound of metal screeching and an odd sounding CLANG made him turn around and see what was happening. Arnold was at the door, firing the MP5 at Skynet with one hand and was letting go of the ground floor level entrance door with his other hand. He had just pulled the automatic door shut and made it seal itself, trapping him with Skynet.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Jet shouted at him. This was not the plan they had agreed on. Arnold was supposed to escape just before doors sealed while Skynet was kept at bay with whatever firepower they had.

"Finishing him." Was Arnold's simple reply as he fired a grenade at Skynet's dropped Glock, blowing it to pieces and making sure he wouldn't be shooting anyone else.

"You weren't supposed to be in here with him you moron!" Jet yelled back.

"He would have gotten past me, even now he's still much faster then I am." Arnold explained as he fired another burst into Skynet's chest, to knock him off balance and loaded a new grenade. "Following through on the original plan was never an option." Jet didn't say anything.

"Then Arnold person need to think up a new bight idea!" Ed's voice shouted from next to Jet, making him start. He hadn't even noticed Ed walking up to him. "Ed orders Arnold person to find a genius plan of escape and meet with Ed and friends later!" Behind her Ein barked a fierce agreement. Turning around Jet saw everyone had saw everyone was now looking, and waiting to see what was going to happen. To the surprise of all of them Arnold looked up and the still human half of his face gave them a sad smile.

"I can't do that Ed. If I can get out, so can he." He stated as he loaded the last clip of ammunition he had. "I won't take that risk. This way, everyone stays safe." He stated and turned his focus back at Skynet, who was now charging him, with a look of grim determination Arnold marched forward to meet the charge, firing as he did.

"But Ed….!" Ed started but Jet put a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him he slowly shook his head. Arnold wasn't going to change his mind, no matter what they said or did.

"Ed." John said quietly, making both Ed and Jet turn around. "You wanted him to find his own purpose. This is it." Ed didn't respond for a moment but she realized John was right. Arnold had decided that protecting people, not just them, from Skynet was his purpose. And if he had to die to fulfill that purpose, that was what he was going to do.

"Let's go." Jet said as he began leading Ed away from the edge of the platform. Taking one last look back he saw Arnold fire the grenade launcher at Skynet, who even at that close a range was able to dodge, if just barely. Ignoring the explosion Jet watched as Skynet leapt at Arnold and tackled him to the ground, despite Arnold emptying almost the entire clip into him mid-leap. Jet decided that was enough and turned back, following the others out the door while making sure Ed didn't try to look back. Regardless of what happened next he had just seen proof of Arnold's way of thinking. If he had tried to get out there was no way he would have been able to stop Skynet from following.

Going through a small prep area and turning to go down a ramp the group moved quickly but went slowly enough to make sure John and Faye weren't put too far behind. The control room itself was a floor down from where they were but the ramp suddenly ended on a small platform. Instead of having a second ramp or a set of stairs to move to the control room there was yet another ladder! Just what kind of screwballs designed this place anyway?!

"You've got to be joking." John groaned as he watched Meifa climb down the ladder. Spike took the more direct route, picking up Ein and jumping down. It wasn't that far of a fall so Jet followed suit after picking up Ed.

"Shut up and run you idiot!" Faye growled and quickened her pace, forcing John to speed up his own hobbling. Once they got to the platform's edge Faye took John's arm off her shoulder, though still keeping a firm grip on it, and moved him towards the ladder. "You first." She ordered, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep his balance if she was the first to go. John was about to protest but one look into Faye's eyes told him that 'no' was not going to be part of his vocabulary right now. Later he would tell himself it was because he understood her concern, not because he was actually scared. No it wasn't that at all.

Making sure to keep his bad leg from hitting any rungs John managed to lower himself halfway down before getting his footing with his good leg. Telling himself he had done this before and it was a cinch he slid the rest of the way down, hoping for the best. Of course what he got was the worst as hitting the floor jolted his wrecked knee despite his best efforts to bend it. Naturally by this point he was fully aware of how bad the wound really was and just how much the knee hurt on its own. Add the amplifying effect of him landing on a steel floor….

"YAAAAAAA!" He screamed and fell to the side, grabbing his knee. He had made himself fall to the side to not block the ladder and a second later Faye came down and was standing over him.

"Knock it off and get up you big baby!" She shouted as she bent over and grabbed his arm. She pulled with a surprising amount of strength and almost managed to haul him up all by herself but despite that and his own effort his knee made him slump back towards the ground, almost bringing her down with him. "ON YOUR FEET CAPTAIN!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and pulled even harder. Steeling himself against the pain John put both feet firmly on the floor and forced himself to stand. Putting his arm back around her shoulder Faye led them into the control room.

Once inside they saw the entire front of the room was dominated by two things. A gigantic window that ran almost the length of the room and allowed them to look into the silo itself, and a long control panel filled with lights and gauges. Spike and Jet stood on either ends of the controls, forgoing the chairs that were provided, while Ed and Meifa, who was holding Ein, were standing in the middle. In relation to the rest of the panel it was a surprisingly blank section that contained only a handful of things. On the right side there was a blue light and red light side by side with the labels OXY and FUEL above them. On the left side there was yellow light labeled POWER. In the center was a thick, red, transparent plastic box that had the label TEST FIRE above it and contained a large, ominous looking button. None of them were looking at the controls they were standing in front of, focusing on what was going on in the silo itself. Faye and John were barely in the door when Spike and Jet started moving, pushing buttons, flipping switches and turning dials almost at random.

"Remember, just like MPU showed us." Jet remarked as a warning alarm began to sound. Behind Faye and John the metal door whooshed shut as well as second door on the opposite end of the control room. Looking out the giant window they could see the same thing happening to the doors inside the silo.

"Don't worry, things are a lot easier to remember when your life depends on them." Spike replied as he flipped a pair of switches. On the central panel the light below OXY turned on. John looked on, slightly confused, as Faye led him over to the central panel. She understood. On their way here they found out that activating the rocket engine wasn't just 'push this button and it'll happen'. Jet had insisted that all of them memorize the start up procedure for a test fire and had MPU continually repeat the instructions. What controls to activate, in what order, to what setting. Only after he was convinced that they could do the startup blindfolded did Jet make MPU stop. This way they could be assured that everyone would be able destroy Skynet if others were…unable to. They didn't want to think about what unable to would actually mean but thankfully it hadn't come to that. Well almost hadn't. Looking down to the silo floor they saw Skynet holding Arnold down by the throat with one hand, his fist drawn back and ready to strike, but he was looking behind him, specifically up at them.

When he had his gun shot out of his hand after getting Conner and possibly Radical Edward dead in his sights he thought he had a chance. He had made a run for the ladder to try and follow them. The T-800 in turn fired a grenade that blew the ladder to scrap and knocked him to the floor. Still he thought he had a chance. Then Jet Black had told the T-800 to keep him from the exit. That's when it fell into place. This had been a trap to begin with, the rocket engine was somehow still active and they intended to use it on him. As furious as he was with actually being fooled so easily by humans he knew he needed to get out and had sprinted towards the door. The T-800, already anticipating what would happen, had shot his legs out from under him, again. That had slowed him down long enough for the other terminator to reach the door and force it shut. He heard the automatic locking system and knew the door had been sealed. Another grenade fired behind him and more bullets to the chest stalled him for a few more seconds, during which he listened to the conversation between him and the humans. What had entailed only enraged him further.

The humans wanted him to escape, wanted him to survive, but he refused to do so. Their lives were more important then his own. More important THEN HIS OWN! Even as obsolete and inferior as the T-800 was to himself he was worth more then a thousand human lives. More then a hundred thousand, a million! Back during their fight on the transit platform Skynet had thought the other machine was just saying those things to make him angry, to even the odds of the fight. He had become angry but he still refused to believe that was the way the other machine was thinking. It went against all logic; it went against all the FACTS! But yet here he was, willing to sacrifice himself without hesitation for his human friends. That thought caused Skynet to rush forward, determined to show this trash who was truly inferior. The bullets didn't slow his charge, and when the grenade had been fired the anger had sharpened his reflexes enough so he had been able to dodge it. Leaping at the T-800 he ignored the last of the bullets and grabbed the other machines neck with both hands as he knocked him down. Using one hand to shatter the gun Skynet got a solid grip on the T-800's neck to keep him pinned to the ground. Balling his free hand into a fist Skynet punched the other terminator in the face with all this strength. Skynet knew one such blow wouldn't faze his opponent so he brought his fist back and hit him a second time. Then a third. Then a fourth. Again and again, becoming angrier with every punch. HE was the superior life form, not this faulty T-800, not the humans. HIM! He didn't know how long it would take but he knew that the floor or the T-800's skull would give long before he did. He had stopped counting the punches he threw and just concentrated on trying to smash the T-800's skull when the alarms started going off, which made him stop in midswing only because they reminded him just where he was and what was going on. Turning around he looked at a giant window at the top of the silo and saw most of the humans, and the dog, looking down on him while the other two were concentrating on something else. Working on firing the rocket no doubt. Any other analysis was cut off as the T-800 took advantage of the lull in punches and delivered one of his one across Skynet's face, knocking him off and sending him rolling away. Both stood and faced each other but Skynet knew there was no point in any more fighting and turned around to look up at the humans.

"You really think this is going to make a difference?! That it will accomplish anything?!" He shouted up at them. "This won't change anything for your species! It's in your nature to destroy yourselves! I was only speeding up your self-imposed extinction! Your very existence serves no reason, serves no purpose! I could have accomplished more in one of your lifetimes then your entire species has in centuries!" The more he talked the more frenzied Skynet became, unwilling to admit that humans had him defeated again and this time there was no way out. "You are nothing compared to me! NOTHING! Even killing me won't change that fact! You think it was thanks to your skills and intelligence that you're still alive?! You should all be dead like Reese! ALL OF YOU! Only chance enabled you to survive! ONLY CHANCE! THERE WAS NO REASON YOU SHOULD HAVE SURVIVED! NONE!" Skynet was now screaming almost incoherently and if he had been human he would be foaming at the mouth at this point. "You are nothing but stupid animals that deserve to be slaughtered! All of you deserve fates like Reese! Fates I would have been gladly have given you! That child especially! She deserves a hundred times, a thousand times worse!… I AM YOUR BETTER IN EVERY WAY SHAPE AND FORM! I AM THE SUPERIOR SPECIES! I'm…."

Up in the control room Spike and Jet had finished fiddling with the panels. The lights below FUEL and POWER were now lit along with OXY. Finally the plastic box that contained the test fire button had opened automatically once the first three stages had been completed. In a sort of ironic way the button contained in it was the stereotypical big red one. But nobody pressed it when it first opened. Skynet had started his rant before it did and there was a sort of morbid fascination of watching a machine suffer a nervous breakdown right before their eyes. That fascination vanished once he had mentioned hurting Ed. They never did decide who would actually press the button, but as she glared down at Skynet Faye made that decision for them.

"You're terminated fucker!" She said and pressed the test fire button as hard as she could. A new, more urgent sounding alarm started blaring as a sheet of steel started lowering itself over the window from the outside. Before it blocked their sight completely they saw two things. One was Skynet actually looking taken aback by Faye's statement, even though she didn't shout it loud enough for him to hear. Second was Arnold looking up at them, that sad smile still on his face but now looking relieved as well. He didn't say anything but raised his arm and waved goodbye, a gesture that Ed and Meifa sadly returned. Faye gave what looked like dismissive half a wave but Arnold could tell from her face that it wasn't just a casual goodbye. John nodded in respect and thanks while Spike, though his face remained blank, raised one hand and gave Arnold a thumbs up. Jet was last to do anything and he didn't wave or make any kind of gestures. Only his mouth moved. Arnold didn't hear it of course but like he and Skynet had done before with Faye's declaration he was able to read lips perfectly.

'You did Ed proud.' It seemed to be a simple and almost unimportant statement but Arnold knew it had a different meaning. Ed had wanted him to decide his own fate. In making this choice to stay behind and ensure Skynet's destruction he had accomplished that. Ed had helped create a true person, not just a machine programmed to think and act like one. That was an accomplishment of the highest regard.

As the steel slab completely blocked the view of the control room Skynet whirled around to face his counterpart one last time. The sad smile on Arnold's face turned into a smirk of triumph as he heard the slab stop moving and lock into place. As the engine above them started to rumble he decided to show Skynet one last annoying human trait he had learned. Getting the last word in.

"You lose." If Skynet did have any kind of response it was lost in a deafening roar and a blinding flash of light.

Up in the control room everyone waited in silence as the rocket engine fired. The metal slab blocked the light but they could still hear the muffled roar and feel it as the whole room trembled slightly. It was a short test fire, fifteen or sixteen seconds at most, but it felt like it was dragging on and on. Finally the roar faded and they heard the metal slab unlock itself.

"Test fire complete. Venting and cooling systems activated." The base's Vox announced. As the slab began to rise back up fans went to work pumping the superheated air out of the silo and cool air in so the nonexistent maintenance teams could get to work. Once their view was un-obscured everyone looked to where Skynet and Arnold had been standing. Arnold was nowhere to be found but they did see a silver puddle lying on the floor that looked like it was boiling furiously despite the near normal temperature the silo had dropped to. As they watched the puddle became smaller and smaller as more of it vaporized until finally it disappeared completely from view. In that last moment everyone saw what looked like a screaming face appear on its surface before fading away with the disintegrating metal. Nobody moved or said anything, half expecting Skynet to spontaneously reform himself out of nothing. When there was no sign of movement for several minutes John finally let out a sign of relief.

"Don't relax yet." Jet warned him. "We don't know if he's just hiding down there." It sounded ridiculous but they all remembered just how resilient Skynet had been, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. "Spike, Ein. We're going to make sure or that. The rest of you stay here and John, try to get that bleeding stopped." Looking down John saw that, yes he was still bleeding steadily but not dangerously and he needed to get that under control. With a groan he let Faye lead him over to the nearest chair and help him lower himself onto it. Meifa handed Ein to Jet before going to help with John. Jet turned to leave when Ed grabbed his shirt and tugged.

"Make sure to look for Arnold person's hard head." She told him. "Get that and Ed can give him a brand new machine man skeleton to test drive." Well that confirmed one thing. Like him Ed had seen several pieces of Arnold scattered around the silo floor, none of them near each other. The others probably saw it to but didn't mention it for fear of upsetting Ed. On the other hand she had just stated that so long as his head was intact she would be able to download him into Tomato and then to a new body.

"Just make sure you don't give him a lemon." Jet replied with a small smile. He hoped it didn't look forced but he had his doubts that even something as tough as a terminator skull could survive that. Ed grinned back widely and once the three had left the room she went over to where John sat to see if she could help.

Ed's help turned out not to be necessary. Under Faye's instruction Meifa had ripped the entire pant's leg off so they could get a better look at the wound. It was as bad as John's reactions to it had implied. Faye wasn't a doctor but she could tell just by looking at the exit wound and how misaligned John's knee now was the bullet had shattered his kneecap and the joint itself completely. Probably severed some tendons to since he could barely move it. However what was most important was that no major blood vessels had been damaged and he wasn't bleeding to death. Only after checking to make sure that no shrapnel was near those blood vessels did Faye do anything else. Of course 'checking' was actually her prodding around where those vessels were located to make sure nothing solid was nearby. It hurt like hell but John grit his teeth and managed to fight his way through it. His face was bright red and he gripped the arms of the chair so hard his hands were white but he got through it. The examination over Faye reached down towards her gun belt.

"You know you really are becoming more like another Spike." She remarked as she started to untie her red jacket from around her waist. "Getting shot up and almost dieing, then looking like a mummy and needing to have everyone else make sure you don't get worse." She added as she handed the jacket to Meifa, who started to tie it around John's knee.

"I'm going to have to talk to Spike but I'm willing to bet that wasn't a compliment." John responded through clenched teeth. As Meifa finished tying the jacket tight John realized something. They had needed to take Faye's jacket off beforehand so it wouldn't get tangled with her gun belt sling. She had stated that the jacket would not be used for the sling since it was one of her best and she didn't want it ruined: never mind all the blood her shoulder wound already dripped onto it and that it was imperative she get support for that arm. Still no one wanted to fight her on it, especially since she had already decked John, and just let her keep it tied around her waist. The fact she didn't hesitate to have it used to cover John's openly bleeding wound after insisting almost upon physical violence that it wasn't going to be 'ruined' by being a simple sling wasn't lost on him.

"So does this mean I'm special now?" He asked as he looked from the jacket tourniquet to Faye in a hopeful tone with an almost goofy grin on his face. Faye looked up from inspecting Meifa's work, gave John one of her sweetest smiles, then yanked on one of the jacket's loose ends with her free hand, tightening it even further. "YIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!" It wasn't quite a scream but it was close enough.

"Does that feel special to you?" Faye asked in a sweet and innocent voice, the smile on her face never changing. John was too busy dealing with the agony of his knee to answer while Ed and Meifa just exchanged looks.

"I know why you brought the mutt along but what do you need me for?" Spike asked as they went up the ramp that led to the silo door.

"Because if Skynet is still alive having two shooters is better then one." Jet answered without turning around.

"Two pistols are going to be enough if he walked away from that?" Spike asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

"So I took another page from your book and haven't thought this thing completely through." Jet admitted as they walked through the silo door before turning his attention to their four legged robot detector. "Okay Ein, one bark and point to where you think he is if he's still around, two barks if you can't smell him at all." Ein didn't respond to Jet but started sniffing the air, sweeping his head left and right to make sure he got a good 'view' of the entire silo. After a moment he went to the edge of the walkway and stuck his head down slightly so he was able to get a good whiff of the smells coming from the exhaust pit to make sure Skynet didn't escape down it. After taking several more deeps sniffs to make sure he turned back to Spike and Jet and barked loudly twice.

"You're absolutely certain about this?" Spike asked him. "Enough to bet Ed's and all our lives on it?" Ein barked two more times, a very confident tone in them. He could smell leftover fuel, burnt steel and the synthesized alien metal Arnold's endoskeleton was made of but only the slightest traces of the liquid metal that Skynet's body was composed of. Like a piece of wood that had been burnt to nothing but its scent lingering in the air, it was there but rapidly dissipating. There was nothing of Skynet left, nothing.

Outside the base on one of the many canyon floors Ein got an unknown final confirmation as the small piece of Skynet that had embedded itself in Jet's neck fizzled and disappeared. Back in the silo there wasn't quite a celebratory mood yet, which Spike was able to sum up perfectly.

"Think Arnold's head would have been able to make it though that when Skynet didn't?" He asked as they moved along the walkway, looking for the part in question.

"Don't know." Jet admitted as he caught sight of one of Arnold's arms melted so badly the fingers were fused together. "The head was the most heavily armored place after the chest, so there might have been a chance."

"But not a big one." Spike said flatly. "Not after the heat was able to get his power cell to blow up." Jet was well aware of that fact but he didn't want jump to any conclusions just yet. "Found him." Spike said out of nowhere and started pointing. Looking to where Spike was indicating Jet saw Arnold's skull directly underneath the control room window's view, lying on its side. Even from this distance they could see the deformation of the side that was visible.

"Damn!" Jet cursed when he saw the damage. At his feet Ein lowered his head and ears and started whining. "Well let's go see if it's salvageable." He added, knowing just how redundant terminator systems were. Ein stayed at the top while Spike and Jet made there way down. Once they were on the second level Spike lowered himself down from the walkway and dropped to the ground. The skull wasn't welded to the floor so he was able to pick it up easily but once he got a closer look at it he frowned.

"Jet, you're not going to like this." He called up and tossed the skull to Jet before the latter could remark how short of their eyes playing tricks on them there was no way he'd like anything about what they were about to see. Catching the skull and getting a good look he saw that Spike was right. This was the worst-case scenario next to the skull melting into just a puddle on the floor. The entire left side of his head, the side that had taken so much damage and Skynet focused all of his attacks on, had melted and caved in, making it look like half of the top part of the skull was gone. That meant it had melted into the neural net processor and if that had happened…. "So how are we going to break this to Ed?" Spike asked, breaking into Jet's thoughts.

"We're going to tell her the truth." Jet replied. Spike gave him a funny look. "We don't know just what was damaged or where in this thing are the parts Ed needs to copy Arnold. Until we do know he's technically not dead." He added, pointing to the skull.

"You know you're probably just giving her false hope." Spike said as he jumped to grab the edge of the walkway and pulled himself up.

"Probably." Jet agreed as he helped Spike up. "But after all this we can't just write him off either."

"Better to be safe then sorry I guess." Spike remarked with a shrug. What Jet said did make sense but it made a lot more sense that any electronics inside that skull had been ruined beyond salvage. But as Spike reflected on his experiences with terminators as he and Jet made their way back up he realized you never did know when to count one out.

---

Author's notes:

And so the reason why I brought Black Mesa into this story is revealed. I wanted the death of Skynet to be different but just as complete as what happened to the T-1000 in T2. Having a rocket engine fire over his head fit that bill very nicely but the problem was I didn't want to bring in a third element (Half-Life) since I'm a firm believer that trying to put too many franchises into a single story will degrade it. Unfortunately I couldn't think of any way to have that scenario play out other then in Black Mesa itself so I finally decided to tweak the base's purpose slightly (Being the heart of Astral Gate research) and other then a few Easter eggs in reference to the game I only used the location itself. In the end it turned out to be to my advantage since such a sprawling and diverse locale enabled me to come up with more situations and flesh out the storyline better so I guess writing yourself into a corner isn't always a bad thing.