Author's Note: To find out more about Sirrush go to my tumblr thedragondivision. Only putting that here since in the group I linked to his/her page.

I want to thank my fellow members of Los Angeles Resistance (Terminator Roleplaying Group) for being so patient with me. A big thanks goes out to Ellen Reese's writer for agreeing to a little upcoming subplot.

Jash Connor's Point of View

I stood by the helicopter as I waited for my team to arrive. The weather was like normal for a post-Judgment Day world. It wasn't pleasant, as if the weather itself didn't like this war with Skynet. I gave the weather a thumbs up for its good judgment. Sirrush didn't pay much attention to me.

I turned to them every minute or so to make sure that there wasn't a major hangup before the mission began. Sirrush was making final checkups to the helicopter.

Elder Sirrush was humanoid and could actually speak. His wings would only carry him for a little bit and then he'd have to stop after a short time. Younger Sirrush, on the other hand, could fly for a long time.

Younger seemed to be falling asleep on Elder's shoulder. She looked like a miniature Western Dragon. Sirrush was a Ditto and I was proud of my creation. I assumed they were talking with each other through telepathy, as they were really one being in two bodies. What humans could only imagine in a soul mate.

Elder turned to me and I just shrugged. All we could do right now was wait. There was no other option. No other option but for me to wait and let worry start to overtake me.

After I had found out that I had never been a human, I had never wavered in my decision to fight Skynet. I had felt no connection to other Terminators, even when they had been reprogrammed by the Resistance. I was a Terminator, created and born, and I was proud of what I was. A Xeno. However, I also considered myself more human than machine. Though I'd never admit that to Marty. No need to give him more ammo in that particular argument.

If Skynet were really making Xenos again, if they really were risking another one like me, then I'd might have to fight myself. In a sense. Nothing could scare me, or make me waver in my mission to stop Skynet, but fighting another Xeno would be hitting too close to home. It'd make it hard for me to think of the Xeno as the enemy and not a family member.

But I would do what the Resistance needed me to do. Nothing more and nothing less.

I turned my head to look at Sirrush as Younger made a purring like sound. Not exactly the same sound a cat makes, but very similar. I smiled as I realized Younger was doing what she could to support Elder. I had been a good mother who had made very good children.

When I thought I'd die of boredom, I saw Tyler Saldecki come to the chopper in full gear and smoking a cigar. Him and Marcus were the cigar men. The thought of them forming a cigar club made me smile inside.

I nodded at Tyler and said, "So you are the first to arrive."

As I was starting to feel both worry and relief because the mission was going to start, a voice from my wrist said, "Wow. You can count now."

I didn't allow any emotion to show, but I was a little pissed off at Serina. My AI had my brand of sarcasm. I both loved and hated her for being a little shit like me.

Tyler ignored Serina as I wished I could.

"I'm here first so I get a window seat." He said and laughed.

I was annoyed at this. Yes, a window seat was very important. Besides, it wasn't like having a window seat was a real possibility. There were no window seats on this chopper. It wasn't like it was for civilians.

In my anger I said, in a playful voice, "Every one gets a window seat!"

I pointed to Tyler and said, "You get a window seat!"

I then turned my finger to Elder, "You get a window seat!"

For the last part of my act I pointed to Younger, "You get a window seat!"

Elder huffed and replied, "I am piloting the chopper."

My jaw dropped and I tried to regain composure as quickly as possible. I was not going to lose to my own child! However, my face remained in shock longer than it should have.

"Thanks for ruining the joke." I said as I regained full composure over myself.

Elder's small smile made me want to hit him. But I couldn't since he was my child. He replied with a simple, "Sorry, Mother."

"Sorry, Tyler, Jash has been thinking about Oprah as of late." Serina said, trying to reassure Tyler that everything would be back to normal shortly.

"I won't even ask why." Tyler said and shook his head.

"That's the smartest thing anyone has said to me today." I replied and winked at him.

All assurances about normalcy were quickly proven to be false. This was because Marcus approached the chopper at that moment, he was drinking a bottle of whiskey.

"I'm half drunk!" He shouted in a drunk voice. After his shout faded into nothingness, he threw the bottle to the ground and entered the chopper.

"Great, we're going with a drunk." Elder said and by doing that he had spoken my feelings on the matter. Younger hissed and indicated that Elder had indeed been angry when he had made his previous statement.

"Half drunk!" Marcus said and I doubted that he was only half drunk. He then paused for a few seconds. "And shut up! I don't care if you're dragon, I'll drink 'til I die! It's a way to pass the time."

He then sat back in his seat in the chopper and asked, "What's the mission?"

For a moment I was dumbfound and in the next moment I was in shock. He had volunteered for this mission and now he couldn't remember what he was going to do? I hated Marcus beyond reason at times. This was one of those times.

I held back as much anger as I could and replied, "You remember the meeting I threw earlier? Yep, same mission as the one I announced then."

"My mind is shot right now, not from the whiskey but from boxing with the soldiers. One punched me in the head." Marcus replied and didn't rub his head to indicate it still hurt. His skull was probably too thick to be damaged to any great degree.

Elder was twitching and I could tell he had been holding back an angry retort. Finally he let it out, "I know you don't care. That's the problem."

Marcus turned his head to face Elder and replied, "We all have our faults, dragon, mine is not caring."

"Clearly, bro, if alcohol and explosions are involved, you will care." Tyler piped in. Was the fate of humanity in the hands of idiots like this? Humanity was surely doomed, then.

"Then try to remember. I'm sure I gave out notes after the meeting." I interjected, but no one listened. Fine, let them ignore me. I didn't mind. No, that's a lie: I did.

"Address me by either Elder or Sirrush. Those are my names." Elder said to Marcus, venom dripping off of every syllable.

"How about a please?" Marcus teased. "See, Tyler gets me. If there's beer, gunfire, and lots of things exploding: I'm there!"

He clapped and said, "I love me some C4 in the mornin'!"

Sometimes I hated Marcus and sometimes I had some admiration for him. I wouldn't let him lead me into battle anytime soon, but I would find him hilarious at times. Instead of showing the crazed fighter that I found him amusing, I rolled my eyes in the vain attempt to keep my feelings a secret.

Marcus took out some C4 with more theatrics than was necessary. I was passed my point of giving a shit or caring about what Marcus had, how he got it, or why it was here. I didn't care what he was doing or why, at least for the moment.

"Which should I use? Molotovs or C4?" Marcus asked with wonder. It was as though he had never considered the question before. I couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious.

I sighed and replied, "Always go for the C4."

"Thank you." He said as if I had meant to be helpful in my reply. Tyler lit another of his cigars. Marcus put the C4 back into his backpack.

"Now this." He said as he showed every one the ammo he had put into his backpack. "Anything else I should put in?"

Elder was still angry, but was managing to stay silent. Younger, however, was moving her head through the air. There was obviously some telepathy going on as he said, "Younger says that you can try putting yourself in."

"Put myself in my own backpack?" Marcus asked. "Perfect idea. Well, alert me when we get to wherever we need to go."

He then took some more whiskey out of his backpack. Half drunk my ass! If he was only half drunk now, he'd sure as hell be full on drunk shortly.

Marcus smiled and turned to Tyler and asked, "Planning on sharing the smokes? I'll share the whiskey."

I found my calm, which was hard to do, and said, "And we wait for Ellen."

I shook my head as I imagined her. What we had gone through and the little fights we had had. "Seems like she hates me at times, but she did volunteer. Sadly, we can only wait for so long."

I heard ED-E, Tyler's little robot, fly up and beep. I turned to look at the strange little robot and saw Marcus briefly look at it and then focus on his drink.

When ED-E entered the chopper, he deactivated and Tyler plugged in the little robot's charging cable. Tyler did the action like the robot was his child and he was a caring father. I cared for Serina, but she was more of a companion than a child to me.

"Every one has super AIs now and I've still got my faithful whiskey." Marcus said and laughed. Great, now Marcus was going into his whiny 'I don't feel special' moods. This mission was going to be so much fun. "I feel so young."

"Hey, I just found this guy in an underground lab." Tyler said, trying to defend himself.

"Lucky you." Marcus replied, his voice heavy in sarcasm.

"Compared to me, you two are barely one year old." I said, trying to loosen every one up.

"Thanks for the comment," He said. "I think I forgot my age. I have only been fighting for my life for around an hour. Anyways, who here has been shot in the ass? Me, I got shot in the arm, leg, and impaled on a pole. You know, the usual stuff."

I thought about Marcus' question. As long as the conversation was going towards insanity, I better go for the gold. "Do you mean sexually or non-sexually? 'Cause I've been shot both ways."

"Alright...non-sexually then." Marcus said, appearing somewhat disturbed. The Xeno wins again!

"Answer is still yes." I replied. Elder was able to keep a facade of being calm, but Younger let out a vicious facepalm. The Xeno had indeed won this round.

After that things were quiet as we waited on the final member of our group. The member who I found fascinating and yet we never seemed to get along too well. Finally she arrived. Ellen Reese arrived calm and collected. More than I could say about the two men that had come before her.

I watched as she got in, then Sirrush went to the pilot seat and I went to the co-pilot seat. I felt that Elder needed practice and I wanted the freedom to attack when I needed to.

I put on my headset to broadcast to the three humans and my child. I made sure it was on correctly and then said, "Every one who is ready, we're going to blow some shit up and hopefully not die."

I heard Tyler say, "I got my window seat."

I knew he was staring at a wall. Not a window. Well, let my little Resistance fighter believe what he wants. I smiled and said, "Yes you did. You ready?"

I heard Tyler reply, "ED-E and I are."

The other two Resistance fighters also confirmed that they were ready. I couldn't stall any longer. I had to go now and face either myself or a rumor. Either way, the time to go was now.

"Sirrush, you have my permission to take off." I said and Elder nodded.

As he took off I got nervous. Not because I was afraid the rumor was true or I had a fear of flying. No, the problem was my child was piloting. I should be in the pilot seat. Who knew what would happen if he lost control?

I breathed in and out for a few minutes before I calmed myself down. Elder was a good pilot, he had piloted choppers and a few other types of vehicles in the past. There was no need to be worried. No need. No need at all.

I stayed alert, though I wanted to dose off badly, and was alerted to a threat by Younger. She was making a noise that wasn't comforting, but showed fear instead.

"We might have company soon." I said and now my body was on full alert. I wasn't worried, I couldn't be. In the midst of action the worst thing was to let fear get the better of you.

I looked over to Elder and saw him tense up. He was preparing himself not to fight, but to try to stay away from the enemy fire. This helicopter didn't have anything we could use to shoot at HKs. Well, nothing except the guns that the fighters inside had.

With that thought I heard someone, possibly Tyler, ready his gun. A M-20 if my memory served me correctly.

"You read to help, Serina?" I asked my AI.

"Yes." She answered.

I heard the HK arriving. It would reach us quickly.

"Good luck." I said as all worry and doubt left my body. There was no need for those things. After this little fight there would be time to think, but the time to think was not now. As this calming process was going on I heard ED-E doing something. Probably had to do with preparing Tyler to fight.

I smirked for no reason. I didn't need a reason. Reason was for another time. For another place.

The HK started to fire at us and Elder was able to evade the attacks. I judged when we were in a good position and yelled out, "Shoot!"

Someone began to fire and said, "Did you guys miss me?"

Ellen could joke when she wanted to. She was usually so quiet that I forgot about her.

"Not that much." I said and let another smirk onto my face.

"Jash is understating her excitement at hearing your voice again." Serina said and I wished I could hit the AI without hurting myself.

The chopper rattled as the HK managed to hit us. From long years of practice, the rattling did not startle me or make me lose my grip. Glancing at Elder I could tell he was growing nervous. This life was still somewhat new to him. He was so focused he didn't notice Younger grip him tightly. Whether she did so out of fear or just to not fall off, I didn't know.

"Yeah, I notice," Ellen replied and I could hear a smile in her voice. "Her expressions and exuberance amazes me all the time."

I laughed loudly and looked at the HK. While continuing to talk to Ellen would be great, there was still the little matter of staying alive to deal with.

"Ellen and Tyler, continue to fire as I try out Plan B. El-" I started and was suddenly cut off by Elder.

"Mother, I have already figured out your lunatic scheme." He said. His facial expressions were different than a human or Terminator's. But I could tell what his meant now. He was worried that he would lose his mother today. And not in a glorious battle, but in a small skirmish. "Will try to get in a good position."

I realized the loyal soldier that I had raised. He was worried, didn't like what he had to do, but was willing to do it anyways.

"When I jump onto the HK I'll distract it. You'll have a better chance at shooting the HK then." I said so that the others would understand the plan. Elder, and therefore Younger, had already figured it out. "Elder can swoop in and get me once you two have shot the HK down."

It was an insane plan and was fulled mostly because I wanted to do something cool. There were many other options on what to do, but I saw my chance at amusing myself and decided to take it. There was no Marty to stop me in this place and time. No John to tell me to...but I must not think about John. He was in the past now and thinking of his murder wouldn't help me now or ever.

"By the way," Ellen said, and with her voice I woke up from my thoughts. "I forgot to congratulate you on your children. I would say that they are cute and look like their mother, but surely they would have been offended by me. No offense, guys! Yep, Martin would be proud."

I finally heard Marcus make some noise as I smiled. He was probably getting his grenade launcher ready. I would complain about him using theatrics most of the time, but I was the one that was going to jump onto an HK. However, I didn't let logic get in the way of thinking of how much he liked to show off.

"Younger thanks you for calling her cute." Elder said as he shook his head.

Elder Sirrush's Point of View

I had no choice over what I was. I had been made, just like my creator. I called her Mother but she did not give birth to me. She couldn't. She had also been created, but her creator had had more evil intentions than mine. My Mother had been created by Skynet to help it win the war. But she didn't let that destiny affect her.

It made me proud.

But as I turned to look over at her I thought that she was too impulsive at times. Jumping onto an HK? Mother was a great asset to the Resistance and she shouldn't risk her life for some kind of stunt. But it wasn't my place to tell her so. Even if it was, she wouldn't listen to me.

Mother unbuckled herself and prepared to jump. Her Xeno body, that looked exactly like a human's, tensed up as she waited for the perfect time to get onto the HK.

"Marcus," She said. "Don't mess up."

I watched as Mother jumped onto the HK and then my breath left me as she nearly fell off. Realizing I needed to concentrate on both not getting shot and giving my crew good aim, I took my eyes off her. I took it on faith that Mother would survive. That I would just swoop in and get her back on board.

As I navigated the chopper to a good position, I heard a gun fire. From what I could remember, it sounded like Tyler's gun. Not that the gun was unique in anyway, but I could tell what his fingers sounded like pulling the trigger.

I was surprised when the HK's return fire didn't hit. I wasn't a great pilot, by any means, and the HK had always known how to fly. Had always been what the metal equivalent of confident would be. Looking at the HK I saw that Mother had taken out her two katanas, which she preferred over any other weapon, out and was using them to keep her on the machine.

There was no flinching in her motions, she was as confident as the machine she was riding.

I continued to dodge the now erratic fire of the HK and heard a laser being fired. As I was keeping focus on where the HK was at all times, I noticed the machine dodge the shot. But just barely. Mother was taking up a lot of its concentration.

But Mother wasn't taking up all of its concentration. A fact that I was reminded of as I wasn't able to dodge the latest of the HK's shot. The chopper shook and I put all my attention in keeping it in the air. I wasn't going to fail Mother. I wasn't going to fail the Resistance.

I didn't think that I was in a good position for any of my crew to aim, but I heard a mini-missile being fired. The HK started to go down when it got hit, but it kept itself in the air. It was built by Skynet, it wouldn't stop on its mission until it was Terminated.

Which it was by Tyler barely a second later. And now the HK was falling with Mother on it. I controlled my panic the best I could. If I allowed my panic to affect me now I could lose Mother. Well, she'd probably recover at the crash site which would be worse. When she wanted to rant she would rant. And I wouldn't be able to tell her to shut up.

"Tyler," I said to the man who had done the most shooting. "Will you be able to grab Jash when I go in for her?"

"I'll try." He answered as I heard him sling his weapon over his shoulder.

I nodded and replied, "Going in."

Jash Connor's Point of View

The smoke coming out of the HK was annoying to say the least. I was glad it would cause no more problems for us and that the Resistance would go on. But that damn smoke was getting to me as it made it harder to see.

But, no matter, I could see well enough. I could see the chopper coming towards me and prepared myself. A half second later and I was prepared to jump back into the chopper. Looking at who was going to catch me I saw Tyler.

At least it wasn't the showoff's arms I would have to go into.

I jumped towards Tyler's arms and was momentarily afraid. What if he didn't catch me and I fell? I did not need that detour. Luckily, though, I went straight into his arms and he didn't let me go.

"Haven't been happier to been in your arms before." I said and did my signature smirk.

Focusing on more important matters, I got back into the chopper and put on a headset. My previous one had fallen off during my stunt with the HK. The danger was over now and we could focus on finding out the truth of the rumor. I watched with disinterest as Tyler got back into his seat. All I cared about was that my team be in one piece.

Tyler's radio came on and I focused all my attention on him. Was it going to bring bad news and, if so, why wasn't I contacted first?

"Liberty Prime is ready for deployment." He replied after he talked with whoever was on the other side of his radio.

"What's Liberty Prime? That your new toy?" I asked. For some reason I had started to recall a Terminator that Tyler had been responsible for investigating. Could this possibly be the same Terminator?

"Yeah, it is," He replied with pride. "I named him that due to the fact that he has pictures of Liberty Statue on both of his feet. Plus the fact that he said that was his name when I ran a voice test."

It was good seeing him happy with his work. It was also good seeing him complete the task I had asked him to. But, for some reason, his happiness irked me. I was a Xeno, but I did not fully understand myself. I was human-like in that respect.

"We'll test him if we need backup." I finally said, finding a comprise to my emotions. "If we don't need backup we'll test him when we get back to base."

"A live fire situation is the perfect time to see if he works." Tyler said and I was unsure if he was being serious or failing at a joke.

I smiled anyways and said, "Fun times."

I watched as the ground flew below us. Always changing, but staying the same. After my first Judgment Day, as in my original timeline I was created after J-Day, things had begun to look the same. It wasn't because depression had really set in, depression had always been there for me once I had found out I wasn't human, but because after an apocalypse destruction appears the same. It makes everything appear alike.

The chopper shook and it felt wrong.

"That's normal, right?" Tyler asked.

I shook my head and Serina replied, "My sensors indicate we should land to make repairs."

Knowing I wouldn't like the answer, I asked, "How long should repairs take?"

My AI said, "Two hours."

"Shit!"

"Two hours?" Tyler asked. "Oh jeez."

"Elder, land as soon as you can." I ordered. I didn't like delaying this mission. I wanted a simple go to, find out, and come back. But my life could never be that easy. "Let's just hope there's nothing waiting for us."

"There surely will be something waiting for us." Tyler stated.

"Don't get my hopes up." I teased.

After a few minutes Elder landed the chopper inside a cave. A big thing had happened to me inside a cave, at least in my original timeline. That thing was Lillith. Not the crazed version that my current comrades had met, but a very strong woman.

Once the chopper landed we all got out. Except for Marcus. After the fight with the HK he must have fell asleep. I would kill him if I found out he had fallen asleep during the fight. Well, I'd punish him in some way since Marty would be pissed if one of his soldiers turned up dead.

I looked around and realized this wasn't the cave where me and my original Lillith had bonded. Why would I be so sentimental as to think of her now?

"I think a friend of mine left a cache here." Tyler said and I turned to him. His gaze wasn't on me, he was making sure his assumption was correct.

"Find it." I said. "We want to be ready if anything comes after us."

I heard a flutter of wings and then Younger was on Tyler's shoulder. She curled around his shoulders and looked content. She looked content enough just to exist.

"She'll alert us if anything happens to you." Elder said. I found it good for him to trust part of himself to a fellow Resistance fighter.

Younger Sirrush's Point of View

His body felt different than my Other's body. My Other's skin always seemed cold and harsh. I liked it, but Tyler's body felt warm. Full of life. I could hear and feel the blood pumping through his veins. It was very calming to me.

"Alright, trust me with the kid." Tyler said to Mother. It seemed as if I were just a burden to him.

He turned on his flashlight and went into the cave. The light, to me, was distracting. I could see very well in the dark. I had to remind myself that he was human and didn't have a Ditto's eyesight.

"If you bring her back dead you'll find yourself following her!" Mother yelled after us. It seemed Mother didn't trust anyone. Maybe one day I'd understand why, but right now I couldn't imagine what would give her such paranoia.

I decided to reassure Tyler that I was on his side. That I trusted him. That I wouldn't abandon him. I rubbed my head against his face. Most people I did this to found it calming, I thought it would work with Tyler.

It did.

"You know, for a dragon, you're kinda cute." Tyler said after I had completed the action.

A large smile enveloped my face and I started nodding wildly. I liked making people happy. As long as I made someone happy, my life was complete.

Tyler began petting my head but he stopped when he saw a crate. I wished he would continue petting me as it felt so good. I knew my Other would say sex felt better, but I was content with being petted in a non-sexual manner.

As Tyler was done paying attention to me, I flew to the crate and then around it. I wanted to say that I knew it was important and I was glad he had found it. But my Other wasn't here to translate for me and I couldn't communicate to the human.

After a few seconds I found a small ledge and landed there. I watched as Tyler opened the crate and found some weapons. So the human had been correct in his previous statement to Mother. There was a weapon's cache.

Tyler took out a mini-gun and said, "Heh, that bastard managed to find one."

He then put it back in the crate and looked for a cart. Luckily he didn't search long until he found one. Upon finding the cart he put the crate on it. There, of course, were more crates and he loaded as much as he could on the cart he had found.

"Let's roll, Younger." Tyler said and I decided to fly beside him this time.

It was good to spread my wings from time to time. And during the earlier attack I had been unable to fly, and instead had been gripping on my Other. Of course he didn't notice as he had thick skin. Literally.

It was a very uneventful trip back to the chopper. Was good for it to be uneventful, though.

Jash Connor's Point of View

Waiting for Younger and Tyler to arrive back was tiring. Being away from base always made me more tense. Was good to get away from Lauren's prying eyes, but Skynet had an advantage when anyone was away from base. Though I had turned off Lauren temporarily, wouldn't deactivate her for good but wouldn't allow her to have as much control as she had previously, I still felt like Marty's AI was always watching.

I kept on glancing at Elder to see if Younger was in any danger. Finally they returned and I was relieved. Younger was flying beside Tyler on their return trip.

I stood up and abandoned my comfy ground chair as Younger returned to her perch on Elder's shoulder.

"You find what you were looking for?" I asked. It was a redundant question as I could see the weapon crates behind him.

"Yep." Tyler replied and put the crates beside the chopper.

"Elder, get moving on fixing things up. I think I might take a nap." I ordered as he had stopped repairing the chopper when Younger had returned. "Tyler, you can take first watch."

"Alright." Tyler said and headed to the entrance while lighting yet another cigar.

I went inside the chopper and sat beside the sleeping form of Marcus.