Chapter Six

Warfare Happens

Derek had never been so concerned, yet so prepared, in his lifetime for a fight like this. Five days passed quickly, especially when John kept on coming up with new tactics and ideas for taking down the metals. First, he had been making the others make more of the metal-corrosive acid, while John Henry watched the city's surveillance tapes. Then he began to have them work on some sort of metal, converting into some monatomic state. It made no sense to Derek, but he did as John directed and fashioned them into throwing knives. They had a solid stack of them when John went back on what he said and asked them to make them bigger, saying something about force fields or another.

Ironically, when they had finished, John and Cameron had been unable to create an electromagnet big enough for what John wanted, so he disappointedly had left the glass-like daggers at home, along with the uncompleted super magnet. What was an electro magnet, anyway? Derek put the question aside; he needed to focus. Checking his gun, he also felt the strange glass/metal dagger he had kept. If they couldn't use them anyway, Derek at least wanted a close combat weapon. There wasn't anything wrong with that was there? John had said they were useless without the electromagnet, but Derek didn't think so. He had long learned that anything could be used as a weapon. Focus, Derek. Focus on where you're going.

John Henry had spotted a pattern in which people were suddenly not going anywhere near; a large factory, not unlike one they had been to before. And now all three cars were heading towards it with speed. Sarah was in front of the convoy, gripping the wheel like a madman. Behind her were his Resistance friends, and in the back was Ellison, who was likely mumbling under his breath about how badly they were breaking the speed limit. Derek glanced at the back seat. John was staring out the window, zoning out. Cameron had John set in her eyes, and was fully intent on watching him. That wasn't to say she wasn't paying attention; Derek was certain that if he sneezed at John the wrong way, Cameron would react and shoot him without realizing what she was doing.

Sarah grabbed the radio as she was driving and pressed the talk button. "This is Sarah. Everyone call in," ordered. Soon static messages came in as the others replied.

"Mark, Jack, and Fred reporting for duty, over."

"Ellison and team ready, over."

"The factory isn't more than a couple of blocks ahead. We're going to stop a block away," Sarah explained. "There's a parking lot up to the left. Pull in and park next to our vehicle; we can transport our weapons and sneak in from there."

"Copy that, over."

"John Henry would like to remind you that the factory has a square area of over 1,000,000 feet," Ellison explained. "He thinks that they're likely to arrive in two major groups on either side of the factory."

"John Henry's logic is undeniable," Cameron said to Sarah, not taking her eyes off John. "It's what I would do if I were Skynet."

Sarah checked the clock. They had four minutes to noon. She spoke into the radio. "We'll try to get to the factory center and get between them; it'll make it easier to separate them." She turned the radio off and began to pull into the parking lot, pausing to take their entrance ticket.

"Sarah, what are you doing?" Derek asked, undoing his seatbelt. "If we set up between them, we'll get caught in the metals' crossfire."

"In between them doesn't mean literally, Derek," Sarah argued, driving and turning. "I'm not stupid." The way she said it struck Derek in a way that put a strange look on his face. Was he guilty? Derek was never guilty. "And put your seatbelt on; we're still moving."

Derek didn't, because the car came to a stop thirty seconds later. He got out and had his gun cocked and loaded. Sarah, John, and Cameron got out shortly after him, their guns also at the ready. They waited as the other two cars pulled up alongside theirs. Mark, Jack, and Fred were the fastest out of their vehicles, followed by Joseph and John Henry. Ellison was patient getting out. "Well let's go tear up some metal," Jack urged.

"Body armor first," John insisted. John Henry assisted Ellison in unloading it from his trunk. Each human was given one to wear. Joseph frowned at his as he put it on. He could be shot and killed just as easily as the others, but he didn't intend to be shot. John Henry watched them put it on with interest. Ellison helped everyone, showing how to put on the Kevlar sleeves he had with him as well. John liked the sleeves; they were a clever innovation. You were useless if your arms were shot, and this took care of that problem.

Once they were suited up and armed—John Henry and the three Techcom soldiers carrying John's acid—they headed towards the factory as fast as they could. Joseph kept ahead of the rest of them, serving as point man. He reached the factory doors and ripped them open without much effort or fear of repercussion. Cameron came behind him, followed by Ellison and Sarah. Derek and John were next, with the others in back, guarding the acid.

Cameron's HUB—high-power utility battlecam—scanned the first room they found themselves in and checked against their objectives. The factory floor was towards the property center. Likely it would have adequate protection for them and they could build defenses out of anything found in the room. "This way," Cameron said, walking past Joseph. He followed her without hesitation, and the group came soon after. They found themselves on the factory's main floor, lined with conveyor belts at heights and with walls of crates and packing boxes.

"I like this," Ellison muttered as Mark, Jack, and Fred checked the room for any hidden Terminators. "We can set up a cross fire in two bases to take them down and watch each other's back."

"That works," Derek replied. "Let's divide up."

"Well they shouldn't be armed," John pondered aloud. "They're just getting here. So that—" John was cut off by the sound of time warp arrivals. Normally none of them would've heard it, except that it was louder with multiple warps.

"That's them!" Mark shouted, weapon pointed towards a door.

"Mark! Jack, you're with me and Derek! Fred, Mom, and Ellison are on that side. Cam, you Joseph and John Henry bait them in and take them hand to hand!" John shouted suddenly. He was unsure of where this knowledge was coming from. How did he know what to do? Was this from his mother's intense survival training, or had it been there waiting for a chance to be used? Either way he would draw upon it. "Mark, set up the acid launcher."

People scrambled to obey John's orders. Mark and Jack leaped over a fallen crate to where he and Derek were. Derek was helping Mark prepare their air-powered acid launcher, which would disintegrate the skin and metal endoskeletons of the Triple Eights, and possibly take down the T-1001. Cameron's face reflected very obvious disapproval that she wasn't within ten feet of John, but she didn't argue. Sarah noted her expression.

"Stay hidden until I open fire!" John shouted, and he ducked down, releasing the safety. The other humans ducked down as well. Cameron, John Henry, and Joseph stood in the middle between two conveyor belts. The sound of footsteps could be heard. Only, John thought, they didn't sound quite right…

T-888s filed into the room. The first thing John noticed was that they all looked like Uncle Bob. Skynet has a sense of humor, does it? I'll have to blast it extra hard…wait a minute, they're clothed and armed! That's impossible! They just came through a time warp, they should have nothing. How on earth could they…the T-1001. Shoot, I just placed Cameron in danger.

Worried John peeked over the crate edge. The T-888s had all of their attention on John Henry. John soon realized why. They only saw Cromartie. Maybe his fatal flaw to acknowledge the T-1001 would be compensated for it. One of the 'Uncle Bobs' spoke.

"Model T-888 Version Cromartie," it stated monotonously. "Your presence is unaccounted for. Status report. How have you captured Cameron Connor and Project Vader Trainee 42?" John's heart skipped a beat when he heard Cameron Connor, and it was out of excitement, anxiety, and fear of his mother. Sarah gripped her gun tighter.

"Cromartie, reply to inquiry," the Terminator ordered. John Henry walked forward to the speaking Terminator. For a second no one was certain of his intentions. What was going through the AI's mind?

"I do not like being misidentified by people who wish to kill my friends," John Henry said. Then he stabbed his hand into the Terminator's skin and yanked out the power supply. Smiling to himself, John opened fire on the nearest Terminator.

Before the machines could respond properly, gunfire rang through the room, bullets ripping into the Bobs. John Henry began to drift among them, hands darting in timed, accurate, flowing strikes. With a maniacal laugh Joseph threw himself at the nearest Triple Eight, going for the head. Cameron was not much subtle; she drew a glass/metal beam she'd taken with her and began to smash it into Terminators. It didn't take the Bobs long to begin returning fire and fighting back with their fighters. A raging gunfight began to take place in the room. Amidst the spray of bullets, somebody activated the conveyor belts, increasing the noise.

Taking advantage of the conveyor belts, Cameron jumped on it, checking her rifle. She began taking skilled shots at the Terminators' eyes, trying to blind them. John felt his skin crawl each time she jerked with a taken shot. He increased his fire on one to pay it back. Why hadn't the acid launcher been used yet? They only had three Terminators in the room still, so why hadn't it gotten off a shot yet? He looked over to see Mark pinned down by fire. There was no way he'd be able to shoot without being shot himself. John reloaded and took matters into his own hands.

"Hey!" he shouted, standing up. The firing Terminator turned and caught John Connor in its sights. John gave it the finger and began firing, pounding lead into its chest. Cameron screamed for John to hide as she tackled a Bob so that it couldn't shoot him. Mark opened fired with the acid launched on the third one as Joseph and Sarah teamed up on it.

John barely heard anything around him; his focus was the T-888. It wasn't even adrenaline; adrenaline was as rushing after his increased exposure. He wanted the Triple Eight, the metal, dead. It had been one of the ones that had shot at Cameron. So he gave chase when it ran out of ammo and ran down the hall.

"JOHN!" Cameron shouted.

"I got him!" Derek shouted as Sarah moved. He sprinted after John, checking to see how much ammo he had left. It was hard to find John; the fool was shouting death threats as he shot at it. Terminators don't run, and he knew that always thought ahead. John, hurry up and start thinking straight! Derek found the room where John had cornered it, by a garage. To his surprise, it was down on the ground, and John was blasting it in the face.

Derek assisted him in shooting it until they were both empty. The T-888 didn't move; maybe John knew how to shoot. Still… "What were you thinking?!" Derek shouted at his nephew. "This could've been a trap!"

"It wasn't," John argued back, the flow of battle still in his veins. He started to load another clip. Derek shouted as a metal lance shot into his shoulder. Then a cold metallic, three-fingered hand picked him up and threw him into a stack of crates. John spun around and spat bullets into the T-1001's body, stopping it from performing the same thing on him. However, John was outflanked; something struck the back of his head. He dropped to the ground.

Derek panicked when he heard gunfire stop and a car drive away. Struggling to see from his broken position, he stumbled to his feet out of the pile, only to find his shoulder was torn, his left arm was broken, and John was gone.

"Where's John?" Sarah asked, walking up to him. Behind her was everyone else. Derek didn't hear her; he was dealing with a cold numbness that was enveloping his body. When Sarah asked again, Derek's brain didn't work.

"Derek, where is John?" Cameron asked. That broke him out of his scared trance. He turned slowly to take in their faces. The humans were nervous, but Cameron's face was panicked. It became scared when she saw Derek's.

"I…" Derek struggled. Where was John? Where did he go? What was happening again?

Suddenly Cameron grabbed him by the shoulders. Picking him up, she slammed him backwards into a wall and held him there. The others tensed and Sarah readied her gun out of surprise. Cameron gripped tightly, causing Derek more pain. "Where is John?" Cameron repeated. Derek couldn't answer; he had no answer. "WHERE IS MY JOHN!"

"Cameron, put him down!" Sarah shouted, a tear escaping her eyes. Tears were also starting to streak down Cameron's face. She ignored Sarah and focused on Derek.

"Where's my John, Derek!" she screamed. "Where is he?!" She started to scream it at him repeatedly, until Joseph gently pulled his 'mother' off him. Derek sagged to the ground, full of pain and shock. Sarah and Ellison knelt next to him, checking him. Joseph, Mark, Jack, and Fred stood by uneasily. John Henry looked disturbed.

Cameron didn't care. "Where is my John?!"

Derek's eyes met hers, and finally a silent answer was given. Cameron stood unmoving, her processes unable to comprehend and develop what he meant. Then she blew. She smashed her gun brutally into the ground and screamed. Joseph flinched away from the sight. Cameron in anger smashed a fist into the garage door, bringing it down and locking them inside and her outside. Screaming John's name she ran.

*****

His head hurt worse than when he was ill. John Connor groaned and felt his head; there were traces of blood. His survival instincts, compliments of his mother, took action and he leaped to his feet, taking in the scenery. However, his vision was too blurry to make sense of anything. Gripping his wound, John stumbled backwards into a wall. John's hearing was unaffected, though. He clearly heard a monotone, computer voice say, "Good afternoon, John Connor. We have finally come to have a proximity meeting."