Chapter three is here, lifes a bit hectic at the moment with a new job with training etc etc but here it is enjoy!

And once again, I do not own the Terminator universe.

Chapter 3 The Armoury

At the meeting George and the cops had continued their discussion. George was arguing that they needed more and better weapons. "We've seen what these things can do just five of them took out the station and we got just the one of them. We need more weapons, maybe some LAW's and grenades." Some of the people present, mostly the cops who had also faced the machines agreed. One of the other cops who had been at the house yelled out; " man, we can deal with them. We got five of them at the house, they ain't so tough! Yes but we got lucky there we crippled them on their transport, and even then we lost some people." Most of the cops argued that they had enough firepower to deal with the machines but fortunately Patrovski agreed with George.

He got up and explained that; "Yes, we have enough firepower to deal with them separately but there are simply too many. And George said they where still building more of them. For each one we destroy we might be facing two new ones. And we have more important things to deal with. Who knows what kind of enemy was behind these attacks, we need to get things under control so we can deal with the general problems caused by the war. The machines need to be dealt with quickly and to that end we need more firepower. Don't forget that we haven't come face to face with those who are behind the machines. Sooner or later if they managed to survive our counter strike, which we can assume they did judging by the machines reactions to our actions, they'll be coming this way. And we must count on that, this attack was so well planned and so sudden that they will have taken measures to ensure their dominance after this initial attack. So we'll concentrate first on getting the weapons we need"

"And after that" George said as he took the floor once more. "We need to consider a strategy to take them with a minimum amount of risk. What do you propose" asked Jack. "Consider this; what do they need to make more machines?" The others looked at him blankly. "They need a supply of metals and chemicals both for their weapons, munitions, spare parts and also to make more units. These resources they have stockpiled at my factory and undoubtedly they will have done the same at the other factories nearby. And from what I saw at my plant they had plenty. As it is it would take too much of our resources to attack them and hope to be successful as they continue to build new machines. What they don't have is an unlimited power source. I've checked it; out of the three power houses only one is undamaged. Admittedly it is the most modern one but still it will only be enough to provide them with enough power to operate the machines and power the independent units. They won't have much of a fall back, just the plants emergency power. If we can capture that power plant we'll severely limit their options. With that they can only maintain a few production lines or a small number of mobile machines."

It was silent after George's remarks. Then Jack stood up; "We can safely say that we have these two options. One; fight them with what we have and be whittled away as they grow stronger with possible reinforcements on their way. Or two; take the National Guard armoury and use those weapons to seize the power plant, cutting of their power and thereby their supply of machines and weaponry with the added bonus that the power will become available to the city for the hospitals and other emergency services. I say we take option two; we retake the armoury and kick them out of the power plant!" There was a general murmur of agreement. They decided that while Jack, George, Sam and two sergeants would device a plan to take the armoury others would go out to reconnoitre there objectives and the best way to get there. A few others would go after more weapons, either from gun stores or the ruins of police stations.

After their scouts returned the planners discussed their options. The scouts told them that there where ten J5's visible guarding the factory. Four stood as stationary guards at nearby crossroads, two where patrolling the streets and the main entrances, where trucks could be on- and offloaded, where guarded by the remaining four. An entrance to the side of the building appeared to be unguarded as it led via a stairway to an annex with contained a small office. A scout who was a member of the National Guards said that the office was connected to the armoury through a corridor with stairs in them. Since the J5's had problems with stairs it should be clear of J5's. The machines had shot up the office from the outside once they found they couldn't get in, inadvertently breaking down the door thereby giving an assault team an easy access to the building. An added bonus was that the entrance was very close to several office buildings. This would give an assault team the chance to get close by without being detected and they could use the offices as a staging area. They soon decided that the office would be their initial entry point. Since they would be taking a substantial amount of weaponry with them when they left they would need to leave by the loading bay. Their scouts had also found that several Guards trucks where available there so they would not have to find and bring in transport for their supplies.

There would be two assault teams and a backup team. One assault team, commanded by Sam, would enter the arsenal through the office entrance and move trough the corridor to secure the inside of the building. The second assault team would wait until the first team had seized the loading bay. Then they would attack the machines in front. This team would be lead by Jack. They hoped to maximize on their control of the inner building as the first team would get some heavy weapons and join the attack from the rear. The third team under Georges command would ambush the machines coming from the crossroads. For this they prepared several cars packing them with dynamite they took from a construction site and rigging a simple remote detonator. They hoped to use them as a sort of torpedoes with a remote detonator.

Having laid their plans they prepared to attack. During the night they carefully set up positions. The two assault teams silently getting into positions in buildings close to their objectives, carefully avoiding J5's on patrols. In the early morning just before sunrise, a group of armed officers and volunteers raced silently slipped into the office entry, timing their crossing to the entrance so as to avoid the patrols. It had been riddled with bullets and several dead bodies where lying inside the office. It smelled of death in the building. Carefully the assault group started moving through the building. Everywhere there was broken equipment and glass from the windows. Trying to minimize the sound of their passing they all carefully examined where to set down their feet. They made their way through the office corridor into the main building. The door into the main building had been destroyed by machine gun fire. Ever so carefully the point man pushed the remnants open, trying to be as silent as possible. Once the door was fully open he quickly moved in.

After checking the area he signalled to Sam to move in. Moving faster now they quickly began to secure the inside of the arsenal. The arsenal was divided into an area with weapons on shelves and several bunker like magazines for munitions. Most of the stores hadn't been touched. Only the door to the bunker where heavy calibre ammunition for machine guns was kept had been forced open with considerable force. Although his group was the one with the most arms they had stilled planned on upgrading their arsenal with weapons taken directly from the stores. This his team had already started doing, Sam joined his group pausing to take some grenades from a box one of his team had opened and placed in the open. Sam then proceeded to move to the front of the loading bay. Moving stealthily his team followed. The snuck trough the shelves in the rear of the bay where small arms and equipment where stored on shelves. As Sam took stock of the situation he heard an ominous sound, the rattling of treads on concrete.

Everybody took cover but he couldn't get under cover in time. As he stood transfixed to the ground a metal shape appeared around the corner of the aisle. Willing his body to move he swung his automatic up and started shooting at the machine. Surprisingly it only took a few hits for the machine to break down. As the machine came to a stand still Sam took a look at it. It wasn't a J5. It was only similar in that it had tracks, an upright body and a head. It lacked however the armour plating of the J5's and instead of the Gatling Guns it had arms with artificial hands. It also had a small loading bed in its rear. The lack of armour was the reason he had been able to disable it with just a few hits. Startled Sam realized that this was some sort of worker drone for the J5's.

His thoughts where cut short by the sound of more machines approaching. Sam motioned for his team to take up ambush positions in the aisle. Using a small office space with a computer which had been crammed between the shelves Sam quickly took cover himself. Keeping low he snuck a look around the corner of the shelves. A J5 had appeared. It gave the drone a quick look over and then rumbled into the aisle. Another one appeared and took up a covering station. Sam looked at one of the members of his team who stood a little further down the pathway in a crossing of two aisles. He motioned to him to circle around so he could get a shot at the J5 covering the one coming down to where Sam was hidden. Slowly the J5 approached, it stopped every few feet to check its surroundings giving Sam's team the much needed time to get into positions. As the J5 got closer Sam soundlessly slipped behind an open closet door.

Sam waited for the machine to pass his position as it did so he pulled the pin from one of his grenades planning to throw it at the machine. As luck would have it the machine at the head of the aisle noticed some sound behind it and turned around at that very instance. It had spotted one of Sam's men and began shooting at him; quickly it acquired another target after killing the first member of Sam's squad and began advancing on the group who had tried to sneak up to it. The J5 in front of Sam continued on, but as the other was no longer covering it Sam took his chance and snuck behind it and shoved the grenade between its upper armour and head. One of Sam's men who remained at the end of the aisle now started shooting at it, distracting it enough for Sam to quickly dive behind the desk in the alcove where he had hid.

Before the machine could get an accurate shot at the team member shooting at it the grenade went of. In the confines of the arsenal the explosion was tremendous. The explosion brought several of the shelves crashing down. White-hot shrapnel zinged through the air scarring every thing in its way. It also blew the head off of the J5 launching it as a old fashioned canonball to the ceiling where it hit with a loud crack and then fell heavily to the ground in front of Sam. On a whim Sam picked up the damaged head and shoved it into an empty equipment bag. Who knew what kind of intel they could get from it. In the meantime the other J5 had killed four members of his assault team who had tried to attack it from the rear. Sam motioned his others members to get under cover. The machine moved back from the rear of the loading bay, trying to get a clear killing area. Sam realized that as long as he team didn't pick up some heavier weapons they where stuck. Unfortunately the J5 covered the entrance to the bunker where the LAW's and other heavy weapons where kept. It now started a search pattern its red laser sight flashing over objects it picked of two more members of his team. Looking around desperately for anything he could use he noticed a forklift which was used to move heavy crates and equipment. He saw a path to get there if the machine would keep its attention straight ahead.

He indicated his plan to his surviving team members with hand signals and moved as far ahead to his goal as he thought he could. At a wave of his hands the others began shooting at the machine. Immediately the J5 aimed its guns at the rear of the bay and Sam sprinted forward to the forklift. Scrambling into the cab he hit the ignition with a hum the machine came to life. Gunning the engine for all it was worth he steered the vehicle at the J5. Its attention was stilled focused on the group shooting at it and didn't notice Sam heading its direction till it was too late. Its head turned to the new threat with a swift motion trying to asses the danger. Belatedly it turned to meet Sam but couldn't get its weapons trained on the rapidly approaching forklift in time. The prongs of the fork caught the machine under its arm stumps trapping the guns in a position where they couldn't shoot anything. Quickly Sam pulled the lever to cause the fork to rise although with difficulty due to the weight of the armoured J5. Sams actions came just in time as the J5s treads began to spin furiously in the air. Turning the forklift to the edge of the loading bay he drove to it and proceeded to unceremoniously dump the J5 down onto the floor below. As the J5 fell its movements caused the forklift to move and its front wheels went over the edge. As the combination of forklift and J5 began to topple over the edge together Sam jumped free of it. The machines fell with a loud crash the J5 landing first on its side with the forklift on top.

Taking a moment to look over the edge Sam saw the J5 moving with jerks and stops trying to get out and up from under the machine which trapped it. Pulling the pin from another grenade Sam tossed it on the machines, the resulting explosion destroying the J5. Sam now rejoined to his team. He could see more J5s approaching the bay, the two which had been left in front being reinforced by the two on patrol. Already one was at the ramp leading up into the bay. Sam ran to the rear shouting to the remaining four members of his team to get the heavy weapons out of the bunkers.

Meanwhile Jacks force had started their attack on the building keeping the machines in the yard busy, effectively splitting their forces in two. The machines took cover behind a truck and some crates that where out in the yard. With their accurate fire they kept Jacks team from getting any closer; already several of Jacks troops had been killed. One of Jacks team members snuck up using the cover of a burning car. As he got close enough he got up to hurl a homemade bomb at one of the machines but he wasn't fast enough twin blasts from the J5 hit him. The bomb exploded leaving a dirty smudge on the pavement. Another member of Jacks team had more success; he managed to get close enough without being detected. A bundle of dynamite landed net to one of the J5 and hit it with enough force to overturn it. Quickly taking cover the man managed to avoid being hit by the other J5.

Sams forces had managed to get to the heavy weapons storage and where now arming themselves with LAW missiles. Quickly the spread out after arming themselves and took up positions just in time. The J5's had reached the top of the ramp and where now pouring fire into the loading bay. Another member of Sams team died in the heavy fire. But by then they had managed to get into firing positions themselves. One shot took care of the first J5 the second proved a more difficult task. The first missile only managed a glancing hit; the missile shot of and exploded against a wall. The J5 retaliated with a concentrated attack on the man who had shot at him, he didn't miss. Sam fired a second missile at it but it went wide, A third missile however hit the machine in its undercarriage blowing it of the ramp where it lay motionless.

Now Sams troops got to the edge of the bay again. They managed to take out the last of the J5's present with a well aimed missile. Sam and Jack quickly got together to discus the events and reform their forces. Jacks group had been fortunate but Sams group had been hard hit, there where only four left of a total of sixteen. All together they had 26 people. Now they quickly started arming them with better weapons. M16's with over and under grenade launchers where the minimum they wanted. For local defence they decided to set up a 20mm gun and several LAW's. They divided their group into three teams one would be local defence concentrated on the loading bay while the largest group would be tasked with loading up two trucks wit munitions. Sam would take a small group of six men carrying extra weapons to reinforce Georges group, whom they suspected by the sounds of gunfire which was steadily getting closer must be in trouble. Just before Sam set off a load explosion sounded not far off shaking the earth. They had loaded up a jeep with their supplies and they now raced to get to Georges group hopefully in time. Sam hoped they where on time by as the gun fire died down he feared the worst.

George's group which had meant to take care of the machines guarding the crossroads was in dire straits. It had been expected as this was the largest group but with the least weapons. Apart from two AK47 and several Tec-Nine's they only had handguns and shotguns augmented by improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. As the machines had rushed too the armoury to respond to the threat they had sprung their trap. The cars they had rigged with explosives had only managed to damage a J5 taking of one of the guns of a J5. They soon found that Molotov cocktails didn't slow them down at all. Four members of George's team had died after they had thrown the makeshift bombs at the machines which had emerged from the flames with blazing guns. They managed to stop one machine by blowing of a tread with a pipe bomb but that small victory had cost them another three lives. George realized that he had already lost a third of his force with little to show for it but two damaged J5's. However they had slowed down the advance of the machines. The machines where now moving cautiously through the street leading to the arsenal. They had met up with each other and where now moving at a steady pace. The two undamaged ones where to the front and side; checking each entrance, blasting whatever they saw. Another two members of George's team had fallen to this tactic.

George had thought of another way to get to the machines. Several of his team had taken up positions and where now slowing them down even more. They took pot-shots at the machines and then ran like hell to new positions. At the same time he had some men crawl into the sewer and wait beneath a manhole cover with the last of his makeshift bombs. As the machine got close to it George quickly shot three times at the cover. This signalled the men underneath to light the fuse of the bomb they had placed there. As the machine trundled onto the manhole cover it blew. The timing had by chance been perfect. The J5 had been right on top of the manhole cover. A few shots had caused it to stop and aim at the people shooting at it. Just as it started to shoot the bomb went off throwing the machine into the air. In a very spectacular way it was thrown into the air and slowly pirouetted in the air to land with a very heavy and final crash on its neck. With a few final electrical sparks the light in its eyes finally dimmed.

The remaining J5's now stood still. After scanning the area ahead of them the damaged J5 now turned and quickly withdrew. The undamaged J5 set itself in reverse, obviously covering its comrade. Surprised but relieved George watched the machines retreat. He sent one of his men after them to watch the machines and quickly repositioned the remainder of his force into defensive positions. Of the 32 men and women he had started with he still had twenty left although some where lightly wounded they where all still capable of fighting, but they only had handguns and shotguns left. He realized that without better weapons it would be madness to try and stop another assault by the machines. He was about to send a runner to Jack but just then he heard a jeep driving into the street. It was Sam and his reinforcements. Grinning broadly Sam shook Georges hand and now told him of events at the armoury, as his men dispensed the new weapons they had brought among Georges men. Nearly all of the men had now at least a M16 with a grenade thrower and enough ammo for a gun battle. Sam and George decided that four of the wounded for whom there weren't any extra weapons would head back to help with the loading at the armoury. At that moment the scout that George had sent after the J5's returned with a troubled look on his face.

The scout walked up to George and gave the bad news. "We've got trouble boss, four transports just drove up. They unloaded a whole shit load of machines. One was some sort of repair droid. It started with the machine with the damaged gun and went on to the one we disabled. I saw two groups of five machines each heading off for encirclement. The main force of twelve machines is headed straight this way. And there's worse, they've got rocket launchers as well. One J5 per truck was equipped with a rocket launcher and a mini-gun." George and Sam turned to each other; "This is going to be a problem," Said George. "All right," George said to the scout. "You go with the others to the Arsenal and tell Jack that we're going to hold them as long as we can. But get us some jeeps here so we can pull out as quickly as possible when we have to. Now go!" Turning to Sam he pulled a city map from his pocket; "Let's see what we can do to make their life's miserable." Sam pointed at two small alleyways that ran parallel to the main street they where defending. "They're probably going to use these alleys to outflank us. If we put a squad here and here, "he said, indicating turns in the alleyways where the machines could only move through one at a time," with Laws we might hold them for a while. Of course those missiles will be a bitch. How long you think it will take Jack to load up the trucks, "George asked. "Can't be all that long, "Sam said. "They where already loading them up as I left, so forty-five minutes max. Okay," George said. "We also got some claymores if we place them in the wreckage of the previous fight we might disable one or two of them. We'll set up shop in these buildings here and prepare alternate positions in those shops back there. So Sam will you take the left ambush? Yeah who's going to be in charge on the right? Well" said George smiling lightly. "I reckon Bob's your uncle." Bob being one of the cops with army service having served two tours in Iraq.

Hurriedly they set up their positions. George sent four of his group to the shops he had indicated. Bob And Sam each took three men with them for their ambush groups. The remaining eight would stay with George on the main defensive line. They where barely in time. As the last of the charges where laid a group of J5's trundled into view. Smoke from fires started by the last fight obscured the view leaving a haze over the battlefield. A female officer wasn't fast enough and was shot down diving for cover. As the machines got closer George ordered his team to open fire. His Law team took out two machines before a missile fired by a missile carrier took them out. The mini guns of the machines where firing undiscrimatingly at anything they perceived as a threat. A truck was set alight by a grenade explosion. As the J5's got deeper into the debris field of the previous fight George detonated the Claymores. By now thick smoke from the burning wreck of the truck hid the machines from sight. George was unsure if any of the machines had been stopped by the claymores. It took a few agonizing seconds for the machines to clear the smoke. When they did George saw that there was one less. The machines now started targeting the buildings George's men where in with missiles and mini-gun fire as other J5's moved forward threatening to cut him off. His position was rapidly becoming untenable. George cursed as he gave the word to fall back to the secondary positions he had lost half of his team for just a few minutes. This was not going well.

Sam's team had more success. His team had taken cover in the entrance of an underground parking lot as the first J5 navigated through the turn in the alley he opened fire. It was a direct hit. The J5 had spun slightly on its axis before keeling over. A second J5 tried to push through the debris of its comrade in the meantime opening fire on the main building perceiving that as Sam's position. It didn't get a chance to correct its mistake. A shot from a grenade launcher damaged its guns and before it could withdraw a second missile from the Law destroyed it. The alley was now effectively blocked. The machines retreated looking for another way to bypass the defensive line. And Sam moved his team to an new position from where he could block further flanking movements.

As Bob had taken up station he realized that he had another option instead of stopping them with his missiles. He was carrying some C4 explosives and as he looked at the alley he figured that it wouldn't be hard to block the alley with debris. It was a run down alley, some of the buildings looked as if they would collapse if someone sneezed. The buildings where made of red brick, but they where now covered with scrawling graffiti. In other places they where smudged by smoke made by the fires of homeless people in oil drums. In fact there where some homeless people still in the alley. Their brains to addled by booze and drugs or whatever psychosis kept them on the street to get out of the way. As he looked around for a likely spot to set his charges, there where some shouts and screams coming from further up the alley. Most where cut short by burst of gun fire. He quickly placed a few charges at the bottom of a wall which looked as when it fell it would block the alley completely. As he finished a few homeless people stumbled pass mumbling and shouting about judgement day being here. He took cover behind the burnt out wreck of an abandoned Chevy. He waited as a final whino stumbled pass his dirty face now also streaked with blood. A J5 came into view with a rattle and a screeching noise. It was pushing a burning drum in front of it which it couldn't get pas, it didn't appear to be hindered by the drum but it gave it a hellish appearance, the red light from the burning barrel flashing across its metal frame in a ghostly light show. A red beam of a laser sight flashed down the alley quickly settling on the back of the stumbling drunkard. A short stab of fire from its guns and the whino fell boneless to the ground, his lifeless eyes staring at Bob.

Only briefly shocked by the meaningless violence of this Bob hit the switch on his detonator. The C4 detonated and the J5 was slammed into the opposite wall, cracking it as well. Turning its head to the wall where the C4 had exploded it looked up in an almost human gesture at the collapsing wall. It was quickly buried in an avalanche of bricks and other materials as the wall collapsed on top of it. Groaning under the abuse from the explosion and the impact of the J5 the opposite wall also collapsed, burying the machine under a large pile of debris forming a formidable obstacle which the machines couldn't pass. The alley was truly blocked, one J5 thoroughly buried beneath the rubble. Grinning Bob got up from his hiding place and joined his team further down the alley where he had stationed them with the Law. Without using his precious missiles he had blocked this assault. Gathering their gear they decided to rejoin George as the machines would have to backtrack a long way to find a new way to outflank them on this side.

Georges luck hadn't changed. His secondary position was coming under increasing fire from the J5's who where using any obstacle they could find as cover. They had managed to destroy two more machines, while losing only one of their team, but he knew it wouldn't be long before he started losing more of his people. They where coming under increasing pressure. As he took a quick peek over the window sill of the shop he was hiding behind he saw one of the missile carriers getting ready to fire at the building. Quickly he got up and fired a grenade at it, and dove for a new position not caring about the glass lying everywhere, hesitation was lethal. It was a hit and with a spectacular explosion the missiles it was carrying blew up. The blast shook the ground and building he was in causing dust and worse some shelves to fall down on top of him. Another J5 opened up with its guns on his old position, the wall he had been hiding behind was turned into rubble. Carefully extracting himself from the remains of the shelves which had fallen on him he took another look outside. All he could see of the J5 he had hit was a crater in the pavement with the remains of its undercarriage in a twisted mess. The J5 which had fired at his old position was already moving to a new position behind a car. He fired a grenade at it but it glanced of its armour and exploded harmlessly in the air.

Another J5 turned its attention to his position approaching him at its maximum speed guns firing madly into the remains of the shop. George fired wildly without aiming trying to keep the machine at bay. He wanted to fire again but his pouch was empty. Fumbling at his backpack where he kept his extra grenades he started to reload the gun as the machine started negotiating the rubble pile which had been the shop front. He realized he wasn't going to make it in time. As the laser sight started to move through the rubble of the shop he closed his eyes and froze up. Just as the machine found him, a load explosion sounded throwing the machine onto its front. Shrapnel filled the shop but as George was laying in front of the machine its bulk protected him from the whizzing pieces of deadly metal. Not believing his luck George stared at the remains of the machine, a gaping hole had appeared in its rear armour surrounded by twisted and torn shreds of metal where a missile had hit it full on. Its delicate innards shredded to pieces by the explosion.

After reloading his launcher he crawled past the wreck of the J5 looking out into the street he could see that the machines where being held now. The remaining machines having pulled back a save distance. They where probably waiting for more reinforcements before renewing their attack. George weighed his options, should he try to hold them here or should he move further back? He saw someone dashing from cover to cover to his side of the street. It was Bob; when he reached George he quickly recounted what had happened at his ambush site. After he had pulled back he had been just in time to see the J5 going into the building George was in. Using one of the LAW's he had stopped it. The destruction of that J5 had also stopped the current assault.

Bob and George went over their situation trying to decide wether or not to pull back a little further. They still had the two LAW's that Bob's team had left. So they figured they could still stop an assault one last time. The grenade launchers where proving to be effective only if they hit the machines close to the head fixture, the weapon points or its tracks. Claymores where only useful at very close range and if enough rubble was available to camouflage them. They did still have a lot of them and with their current positions being in the ruins of the shops they could be useful. They had no way of knowing if and how fast the machines could be repaired. Apart from the machines which could be repaired there might be other reinforcements to their opponent's forces. And it was unclear if the four machines that Bob had stopped in the alleyway would continue to try and outflank them or reinforce this assault. So they didn't know how many machines they would be facing the next time. They also didn't know how successful Sam's team had been.

Just then two jeeps pulled up bringing extra LAW's and ammunition, also providing them with a quick means of retreat. The drivers told them that the loading was nearly complete. They where now busy loading in the entire heavy machine gun ammunition stock so as to deprive the machines of that asset. They just needed another twenty minutes. George and Bob then decided that they would rig their current positions with Claymores; two officers would stay as snipers to lure the machines into the ruins and then explode the Claymores. That way they hoped to gain a few extra minutes at minimal cost. They also decided to change tactics. In stead of holding a few fixed points they would ambush the machines properly. They would set up on one side of the street and allow the machines to pass them. Only then would they open fire. This tactic would also offer maximum targets for the grenade launchers. Hopefully this would slow them down enough so they could still finish the loading. They decided that if the time came to evacuate without an attack being made they would pull out.

Sam's team had taken up a new station in another street waiting for the machines to try and outflank them again. They had heard the sounds of Georges fight and where wondering if all went well when Sam cocked his head to listen more carefully. "Listen do you hear that?" He said nudging one of his team. "What? That;" said Sam as a machine gun burst sounded followed by a load crash. "That sounded much closer. Nah, George just moved to his fallback position. So it's pretty obvious that's gonna sound much closer." Just then the sound of the battle ebbed away after a final explosion.

Before Sam could contradict him shots from a mini-gun blasted the wall of the building they where concealed in and then the wall erupted in a shower of bricks as a J5 came smashing through. "Jesus!" screamed the guy whom he had been talking to. The guy quickly twisted around with the LAW and fired it in his panic before Sam could stop him, the missile went wide. The back blast caught a woman and turned her into a human torch. Sam reacted on instinct and dove through the window they had been looking out through. It was not a moment too soon as the J5 opened up with both its guns cutting everybody in the room into pieces, mercifully killing the burning woman as well and stopping her horrific screams. As Sam lay prone in the street an explosion rocked the room he had been in as the munitions the woman had been carrying went off. Sam got to his knees and turned around to look at the building, it collapsed. As the dust settled Sam heard the ominous sound of metal treads on rubble. At least one J5 had survived and he wasn't waiting to see how many more. Sam bolted.