Warning to kaotic2: Sorry, but you will not like this chapter.
The reason that resistance lookouts had failed to detect the Skynet advance was that their normal approach—on foot, in plain view—was avoided this time. Instead, their arrival was sudden and relatively unexpected.
Twenty HKs, heavily laiden with terminators, screamed in at only 10 meters of altitude. Simultaneously, they unleashed their deadly cargo. The T-600s, 10 from each HK, were neatly dropped at predetermined coordinates all around the depot. The fall momentarily stunned the terminators, but all were battle ready within seconds.
In the drop of a hat, Skynet had bypassed all the resistance checkpoints. Fortunately, nearly all of the civilians had been evacuated.
From the far end of the depot came a voice enhanced by a bullhorn. "Everyone grab weapons and assume your positions!" said the voice, just short of panic-stricken. "The enemy is here!"
This was quickly followed by a mad scramble for the hidden firearms. Most had already done so in anticipation of the attack, but some were left without guns anyway.
John and Derek exchanged questioning looks. "Were you expecting this?" Derek asked.
"I was hoping for a little more advanced warning," John admitted.
"So much for the intel," Derek replied. John didn't argue with him.
He couldn't. Derek had barely uttered the reply when a large section of the north wall of the depot erupted in a ball of flame. Skynet had chosen their entry point.
Some sporadic fire responded to the wall's disintegration, but for the most part, an eerie silence lingered. Then, a solitary T-600 stood atop the pile of debris and scanned around, the glow of its red eyes plainly visible through a haze of dust and against the black background.
Derek took aim with his M-82, but John rapidly pressed the rilfe toward the floor. Derek quickly snapped his head up in annoyance, glaring at John.
"No, " John said. "Let them come inside."
Derek nodded and watched, but kept his rifle at the ready.
The first T-600, unsatisfied with its initial scan, marched down the pile and began investigating inside the depot. It was soon followed by another. And then another. Soon there were more than 100 terminators through the debris. Apparently, the Skynet strategy was to drive the humans through the remaining exit—the southern one—and directly into the balance of the T-600s outside.
Finally, some gunfire rang out from the west side of the depot. Instantly, the T-600s turned in unison and returned fire. But the firefight was short-lived. Still, more terminators flooded into the warehouse.
But where had everyone gone? All of the civilians had been evacuated, just as planned. However, just as many soldiers had replaced them. Some 1,500 were concealed in three 100-meter long perimeter trenches on each of the building's remaining sides—including John and Derek—and still more were covering the civilians retreating through the sewer.
The balance—one select company—remained concealed in the debris south of the depot. They had alerted their comrades of Skynet's unusual arrival. Now, they were just waiting for a signal.
Each trench took turns drawing the terminators' attention, all the while pulling them further inside. John was making a tally—150 was the magic number, and they had just reached it.
"Now, everyone down!" the voice blared through the bullhorn. All the soldiers complied.
Simultaneously, from behind the southern trench, appeared four massive gatling guns, each removed from their respective A-10s. The guns, normally used to destroy tanks and other vehicles, fire 30 millimeter depleted uranium rounds. Nothing short of a 5-meter thick wall can stop them.
The terminators had no chance.
Within 10 seconds the 150 T-600s were reduced to piles of scrap metal. They mustered a few ineffective shots, but the guns were remotely triggered by men in the trenches. There were no human casualties.
There were still 50 terminators left though—all outside. If the machines were capable of sensing danger, it apparently didn't matter. Fear was, of course, also foreign to their programming, so they merely awaited the pending attack, with scouts and lookouts at regular intervals.
The wait wasn't long.
In another planned move by Nishimira, the gatling guns had been mounted on wheels. Satisfied that all the terminators had been liquidated inside the depot, the resistance moved the batteries onto the depot's loading dock at the southern entrance. A large automated door opened and soldiers quickly manuvered the guns into position.
Skynet immediately opened fire, but they were quickly overwhelmed by volume. The resistance finally had the advantage and they pressed it home. The gatling guns were more than enough, but individuals, including Derek, felt the need to collect a few kills of their own.
The company of spotters in the debris stayed down, as planned, to avoid any stray rounds from the big guns. They were also there to eliminate any stragglers, but that task had been rendered superfluous.
Skynet's surprise attack had been crushed.
A mighty roar bellowed from the battle site while soldiers exchanged handshakes and hugs. Some even fired their guns into the blackness.
"Great effort tonight, soldiers!" the ubiquitous voice from bullhorn blared. "Now everyone back to base before the HKs return!"
John and Derek joined a mass of humanity that scrambled back into the sewers for the 15 minute walk back to Serrano. A small force remained behind at the depot to secure the area and protect the redeployment.
"I guess I was wrong," Derek admitted. "Looks like your general did her homework. This time."
John nodded in affirmation as the two walked briskly along. "It's a good start, no doubt," he said. "It's a nice inetelligence breakthrough, but Skynet has probably already realized that their security's been compromised."
"So what do we do know?" Derek asked.
"We keep after 'em," John said, after drawing a long breath. "It's gonna be a long struggle, but we have to keep analyzing their communications, break hundreds, even thousands of codes and transmissions before we reach our goal."
"What goal?" Derek replied.
John stopped and took a long whiff of the rancid sewer air, grimacing as he did so.
"For starters, I want to end our "scared rat" behavior," John answered. "I don't know about you, but I've had quite enough of this stench."
Derek gave John a wide grin and nodded. The two continued back to Serrano with the rest of the soldiers, a good 15 minute walk.
Their sojourn in the city's bowels finally over, John and Derek emerged to find a massive celebration beginning at Serrano. When the revelers spotted John, the noise increased tenfold, while soliders and civilians alike began gladhanding, hugging and even kissing him.
To say that John was overwhelmed may have been the understatement of the year. Derek saw his nephew's discomfort and arranged for a small escort, but it was a solid 10 minutes before they reached topside headquarters, a relative sanctuary.
John let go a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "That was a little crazy," he said, to no one in particular.
"One of the 'hidden' benefits of leadership," Derek replied, teasing.
"Terrific," John said. He then spotted Kyle and moved over to him. In spite of all that had transpired, only one thing was on his mind.
"Kyle, glad you're safe," John said. "Where's Ally?"
"I wish I knew, John," Kyle admitted. "I lost track of her—she bolted from me as soon as we got back."
"Oh, no!" John said, worry all over his face.
"Don't worry, though," Kyle quickly added. "I had all checkpoints contacted to make sure she couldn't leave the base."
This seemed to relax John, who nodded in appreciation.
"Thanks, Kyle," John replied. "I'll take it from here."
"She's pretty upset, though John," Kyle interjected. "She didn't say a single word to me on the way back."
"I understand," John replied. He was afraid something like this would happen, but it couldn't be avoided. He slapped his father on the shoulder in appreciation and then opened the door to Nishimira's topside HQ.
The general was conferring with a few members of her staff at her desk when John walked in. Nishimira stood up while the other three spun around to regard the newcomer. Simultaneously, all saluted.
John was taken aback, but did not want his surprise to show. He saluted back, despite his discomfort.
"Congratualtions, ladies and gentlemen, on a prefectly executed ambush," John said.
"It was slightly better than my predecessor's plan," Nishimira replied with a small smile. "Glad to see you made it back in one piece, Mr. Councilman."
"We all did," John answered. "Please give the council's thanks to all personnel involved in this historic action."
"I will, sir," the general said.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some long overdue sleep," John added, before walking out.
He ran into Kyle and Derek as soon as he left the office.
"If you see Ally," John said, "Tell her 'I'm sorry.' She can find me in my office."
The brothers nodded in unison, watching their new leader walk away slowly.
"I don't think I've ever seen such an old young man," Derek admitted.
Allison ran from Kyle the instant they reached Serrano. Kyle started to pursue, but he lost her in the maze of humanity. Personnel and civilians were milling about the base in anticipation of the battle.
Allison was lost in thought, but her survival sense—that strange, elusive quality that seemed inherent in every J-Day survivor—took her to an abandoned building next to the newspaper offices. She had come here often for solitude and thought, so it was the perfect place for her now. She nestled herself on the second floor, near a small window that gave her a perfect view of the whole compound.
And she waited for John, of course. He was all she cared about.
But Allison was very angry with him, probably the most upset she had ever been. How could he possibly know that he alone was safe? She shook her head and frowned at the memory, but still, she waited.
Now, the internal battle raged. She couldn't reconcile his convoluted logic and was tired of his constant over-protection. On the other hand, she knew John was doing it out of love and nothing else. Then there were the lingering questions about his mysterious past. Allison shook her head, attempting to clear the confusion, but her bewilderment remained.
But then she saw him. John and Derek had returned; the former was mobbed by well-wishers.
Allison's heart raced. It had only been about 60 minutes since she had seen him last, but to her it had seemed an eternity. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she pressed her hand to the window, as if reaching for him.
She knew now what she must do.
John said he was returning to The Resistance offices, but he knew where Allison had gone. Well, he suspected anyway—the building adjacent to the offices, where she often retreated for solitude. That was his best guess, anyway.
He pulled his hood low, doing his best to conceal his face from the partying mob. It worked for the most part, but his progress was slow as he constantly bumped into members of the crowd.
At last, he reached the building, but he was blocked by a set of doors that was tightly chained shut and boarded. But he had observed Allison contorting herself through one of the crevaces. Although he was not as svelte as her, he felt he could pull it off, especially if he held his breath. After considerable difficulty and fearing he had been ensnared twice, John finally rolled into the building in a summersault.
Pulling his hood back, he scanned around. He saw nothing except cobwebs, old, dusty desks, scattered, badly worn office furniture, lamps and chairs in what appeared to be a lobby. He then walked around and briefly scanned each room, softly calling her name, but he found no one. He saw the stairway leading to the second floor, but he figured that she had no reason to go up there because the bulidng was empty.
If he had bothered to look closely, he would have noticed Allison watching him. But John was exhausted and he decided that she would return here eventually. So he found the one office that had a mangled couch and plopped himself down, hoping to catch some sleep before she came back.
John fell fast asleep, but images kept flooding his thoughts. First was his mother, reminding him that no one is ever safe. Next was his first handshake with his father, something he would never forget. Then a cacophony of images washed through his mind—Derek, Hoth, Ellison, Nishimira, Kin, Bedell, Weaver—all of the people and things that had influenced him in his new life.
However, it always came back to Allison, of course. The love of his life was the most remarkable person he had ever met. Beautiful and strong, determined and tough, yet somehow remaining undeniably feminine. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with her.
But how long was the rest of her life? He was just trying to protect her, but the last time he had spoken to her, he sounded like a worried father at best, and an irrational idiot at worst. For this, he wordlessly cursed himself.
Suddenly he awoke. And found himself face-to-face with Allison. She was precariously perched on the couch next to John, but soon moved onto his lap.
John swallowed hard, but did not avert his eyes from hers. She returned the compliment.
"Ally, I'm so sorry…" John began, but he was cut off as Allison raised a finger to his lips and gently pinched them.
"No words," she whispered softly.
For the first time, John became aware of what Allison was wearing. Or rather, what she wasn't wearing.
Clad only in a hooded coat, which she promptly let drop to her lap, Allison pulled a large gray blanket over both of them as John labored to remove his pants. He drew a heavy breath as he took in all of Allison's angelic beauty.
"You're so beautiful, Ally," John whispered. Again, Allison shushed him with a finger to his lips.
She leaned down and kissed John amorously on his lips. He eagerly mimicked Allison's movements. Both trembled with adrenaline as they engaged in the delights of passion. Exploring regions of each other's bodies hitherto unknown, John and Allison united in the only way that could truly express their feeling for each other.
At Allison's direction, John tenderly kissed and caressed her cheek and neck, slowly working his way down her body. She moaned in satisfied delight as he did so, giving herself to John completely.
For Allison, time and space ceased to exist. It was the first time in a very long time, perhaps ever, that she felt so thoroughly safe and secure. In John's arms was where she had always needed to be.
John concentrated on the moment, trying to please Allison without appearing to be too selfish. Finally free of all of his own self-imposed restrictions, John couldn't help but feel a sense of completeness, unlike anything he had felt before.
Lost in the throes of passion, John and Allison eagerly drank up the wave of love that washed over them. With their respective missions accomplished, they fell asleep in each others arms, more content than they could have ever imagined.
A few hours later, John awoke first. All he could do—all he wanted to do—was stare at the vision of loveliness in his arms. He had been through quite a whirlwind with Allison, from her slap to his face to the ultimate expression of love and togetherness. It was enough to make John chuckle, in spite of himself.
This was sufficient to stir Allison awake. She immediately focused on him and smiled.
"Hello, beautiful," John said, returning the smile.
"Hello, my love," Allison replied.
"Ally, listen," John continued, trying hard not to lose himself in her beautiful brown eyes. "I want to apologize for before. I had no right saying those things to you. I just wanted you to be safe."
"I'm always safe when I'm with you," Allison countered. "You know that."
Allison immediately pulled John, tenderly but forcefully by his neck, to her and kissed him passionately on his lips. John hungrily drank her in.
"So," she said, releasing her grip, "Are you gonna tell me what happened to your mother?"
"She's alive," John replied, this time with no hesitation, locking eyes with Allison. "And I'm gonna find her."
That's all for part 1. Hope you enjoyed reading. Those yearning for a Cameron return will not be disappointed, but it's gonna take a while. I want to start "John Connor: Ascent" soon, but actual work and school could mean a delay.