Terminator: Return of the Fallen

Part XXVII

After we had trashed Cyberdine's mainframe, we continued our search for the T-600 factories. Of course, our search was hindered by the fact that all internet communications could be tracked by SkyNet. In the end, it is John Connor and John Henry that discover the beast's lair.

"Hey, John Henry and I just figured out where the T-600s are".

"Care to elaborate on that, General?"

"The answer was staring us right in the face". John reaches into a bag and pulls out the decapitated head of the second T-600 that I had encountered. "Literally staring us in the face".

"You hacked his memory chip".

"Exactly! That is the good news. The bad news is that there are several T-600 factories, and they are all mobile".

"Mobile? Can they fly?"

"No, they float. The T-600s are being built on massive ships. The closest one is off the Atlantic coast, just within range of an air strike".

"That is good news. The bad news is that we do not have a plane or a bomb large enough to destroy a large vessel". John Henry enters the room with a huge smile on his face.

"We do now. Follow me to the workshop". I follow him to his workshop, where there is a large object hidden under a sheet. He pulls the sheet away to reveal a Maverick air to surface missile.

"Where did you get a Maverick?"

"It's not a Maverick. It's a Nuverick: basically, a Maverick with a nuclear warhead. Pretty clever if I do say so myself".

"You built this? John Henry, you never cease to amaze me. Now, do you have a method for delivering this nuke?" Catherine oozes out of the wall. Is it strange that I find this arousing?

"That is where we come in, Charley".

"We?"

"With my mother's assistance, we will infiltrate the nearest airbase, acquire two A-10s, and arm one of them with my missile. We will also attach anti-missile equipment that the Resistance has developed in the future. You will fly to the target and destroy it, with my mother acting as your wing man. Any questions?"

"Just like old times, eh Catherine?" Catherine shape shifts into an A-10 pilot, and hands me a flight suit.

"Get some rest. At dawn, we strike".

When we arrive at the base, Catherine oozes through the chain link fence and disguises herself as an aircraft technician. John Henry and I are unable to enter the base the same way as Catherine. We reach the entrance to the base, and encounter a pair of military policemen. We knock them out, steal their uniforms, and leave them tied up in the back of our stolen truck. Once inside, John Henry acquires a technician's uniform while I slip into my flight suit. If everything has gone according to plan, Catherine has managed to smuggle the nuke into the base and is now waiting for us in the hangar.

When we reach the hangar, we find a male technician making adjustments to a pair of A-10s. I can't spot Catherine anywhere. I guess we will deal with this technician first, and figure out where the hell she is later on.

"Hey. New orders: I am to take this plane out for a dawn patrol. Is that clear?"

"Finally! I was wondering when you two would get here. John Henry, come help me with the nuke".

"What the...CATHERINE?!"

"Keep your voice down". She shape shifts into her normal self wearing a flight suit.

"You truly are the master of disguise. Bravo, my love". I think she is blushing.

We arm the missile, attach our special equipment, and begin to taxi down the runway. Someone asks us for flight clearance, but Catherine manages to disguise her voice and convince the gullible man that our orders are classified. By the time they realize that we have stolen a pair of A-10s, we are already on route to our target.

When we reach the ship, the sun has already risen. The enemy's anti-aircraft batteries come to life and begin to fire at us. We criss-cross our planes and use flares to throw off their missiles. Once we are in weapons range, we blast their anti-aircraft batteries with our standard Maverick missiles. T-600s fill the deck and fire at us, and we dive down upon them and demolish them with our nose cannons.

From out of the clouds, a squadron of Hunter Killers descends upon us. The first one gets behind me and tries to blast me out of the sky. From the left side of my canopy, I see Catherine's A-10 climbing towards the Hunter Killer and firing a Sidewinder missile. The Sidewinder hits the Hunter Killer in the engine, sending it plummeting into the Atlantic. A second Hunter Killer comes up behind Catherine and attempts to lock missiles onto her aircraft. As she manoeuvres to avoid her foe, I come up behind it and blast its left engine with my nose cannon. Fortunately, the uranium tipped shells rip apart the engine, sending the second Hunter Killer to meet its brother at the bottom of the ocean.

Two more Hunter Killers drop on us from above and attempt to shoot us down with radar guided missiles. Catherine and I roll our planes to our left, releasing a special type of foil developed by the Resistance. The foil attracts the missiles, causing them to detonate far from our aircraft. We both climb to meet our opponents head on, and we each fire a Sidewinder. Two more Hunter Killers are struck in their engines and drop into the Atlantic. I have one Sidewinder left, but Catherine is now out of missiles. We will have to shoot our enemies down with our cannons.

Another Hunter Killer comes up behind Catherine, at extremely close range. She swerves to avoid the cannon fire, but she is unable to shake her pursuer. This is one very skilled drone.

"Charley! I can't get this guy off my ass!"

"Stay calm, I'll get him".

Adjusting my throttle, I attempt a manoeuvre that could save her life. It could also get us all killed, but that is a risk I am willing to take for her. I dart across the nose of the Hunter Killer, unloading my flares into its face. This temporary blinds the drone, which should buy Catherine enough time to escape.

"He's blind! Dive now!" She does. I swing around and fire my last Sidewinder at the stunned drone. Its engine explodes and it too crashes into the ocean. "Just like old times, eh Catherine?"

"Exactly like old times. More bandits incoming!"

The Hunter Killers switch to heat seeking missiles and open fire. We criss-cross across the sky, dropping flares to divert the missiles away from us. Two bandits throttle up to close the gap between us, and we both hit the breaks and let them fly right by us. Once behind our enemies, we destroy their engines with our nose cannons. One more kill a piece.

Another Hunter Killer drops in behind me and tries to blast me out of the sky. Catherine and I pull the old bait and switch routine. First, I attempt evasive manoeuvres to keep from being destroyed while she heads straight towards me at full throttle. At the last second, I roll right and dive. She attacks the drone head on, destroying its engine with her cannon. God bless whoever invented uranium tipped shells! They do wonders against all armoured targets, including Hunter Killers.

Two more drones remain, and the T-600s are beginning to use Stinger missiles. This could work to our advantage. With Catherine providing covering fire, I dive straight for the ship. As the plane carrying a nuclear warhead, I am the prime target. Both drones dive down and attempt to blast me to pieces. The T-600s, too distracted or too stupid to realize that they are being set up, fire their missiles at me. Skilfully, I swerve in and out to avoid the missiles. Each anti-aircraft missile slams head first into a Hunter Killer, disorienting them enough for Catherine and I to get behind them and finish them off with our cannons. The enemy's squadron has been neutralized; now to deal with the ship.

The vessel is heavily armoured, so our small nuclear weapon may not be enough to destroy it. We need an opening; an air shaft or an open hatch so that we can detonate the warhead within the ship itself. Meanwhile, the T-600s continue to launch Stingers which we continue to evade. They are terrible shots! This time, Catherine plays the part of the target while I sweep the deck clean of T-600s.

At this rate, we are blowing them up faster than they can rebuild them. Unfortunately, we are starting to run out of fuel. I must fire the missile, or this whole trip will have been for nothing. More T-600s come out with Stinger missiles. The morons still have not figured out our strategy: one of us distracts them while the other blows them all to hell. Either they will run out of T-600s, or we will run out of uranium tipped shells!

Suddenly, they give us the opening I was hoping for. Part of the deck opens up to reveal a hangar, full of Hunter Killers. As the Hunter Killers begin to take off, I fire the nuke directly at the hangar. The warhead detonates inside the hangar, destroying the vessel, the factory, and the remaining enemies. Mission accomplished in a bright flash of sound and light.

Catherine and I fly our A-10s over a wooded area where we have agreed to meet the others. Once we reach the rendezvous point, we eject and send our aircraft crashing into the woods. It is a shame; I would have liked to have kept an A-10. As I have previously stated: I belong in the air. For now, I will have to settle for parachuting into a forest. Unfortunately, I get stuck in a tree.

"Well, this is embarrassing".

After about ten minutes, I spot Sarah driving a jeep through the woods. I shout as loud as I can to attract her attention, and I am eventually spotted by Cameron who is sitting in the passenger's seat. The Connor clan pulls under the tree that I am currently trapped in, and Catherine climbs up to cut me down.

"Well, this is a new experience".

"Landed on target?"

"It was a perfect drop. Unlike yours".

"Hey, I'm used to flying INSIDE of a plane, not jumping out of it". Catherine cuts the ropes holding my parachute, and I land flat on my ass. Allison begins to crack up. "I am so glad you find this amusing".

"Would you like me to kiss it better?"

"NO!" My reaction causes everyone to burst out laughing. Sarah is the first one to regain a sense of seriousness.

"The factory?"

"Nuclear vapour! We also splashed two squadrons of Hunter Killers. All in all, I'd say we had a good day out there".

"Not to mention the dozens of T-600s we tore apart with our cannons. This should upset SkyNet tremendously".

"That is true, mother. Unfortunately, there are other factories in operation".

"And I doubt you have any more nukes lying around".

"I can only manufacture nuclear warheads when I have nuclear power cores. The only source of said power cores are...."

"The bodies of dead Terminators. We know, J.H. Well, I guess we should start hunting Terminators. What do you say?"

"It is not that easy, Charley".

"It never is. But, we will do it anyway".