CH 14. Second battle of Palmdale
Judgment day
Sky Net got itself installed on a Chinese computer and was tapped into the national defense network and the Russian defense network. It knew movements and the status of weapons. The Chinese were Russian allies, and had many nuclear weapons. It picked it's targets carefully. It targeted not only Russian and Chinese and it's enemies, but also Russia with the Chinese nukes, and China with the Russian nukes. It's first priority was to wipe out life in Asia. Finding a clear path, it send orders to the strategic bombers of Russia to carpet bomb Taiwan, and Chinese bombers to India. Once those 'secret missions' were under way, it would launch all the nukes.
The first signs of something wrong were communications reporting enemy breakthroughs where none occurred. Artillery opened up on their own troops. At sea, false reports of enemy ships 'disguised' as friendly caused ships to battle their own side. Rendezvous with other ships ended up to be enemy encounters. Once this confusion was underway, the bombs began to drop.
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News of the nuclear attacks prompted swift response. Russia and China were stunned that not only they were releasing nuclear weapons, but also releasing them at each other. Due to the increase in modern missile defense, the US and British anti-missile defenses at sea and on land managed to down many missiles and warheads in flight aimed their way. Sea, air and land born lazers laced the skies, destroying incoming targets. A few missile got through in Europe and the US East coast. Norad was on peak alert. The President and Joint Chiefs were ready to launch a retaliatory strike. John Henry supplied additional satellite information, showing Russia and China launching against each other. Again, he sent information showing every vehicle that originally attacked in these wars, were the same type, only different markings had been put on them. Puzzled by events, the President held off on the retaliatory strikes and made it a top priority to contact the Russians and Chinese as soon as possible. It was obvious now something was very wrong.
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Cameron acted quickly as well. Not knowing if they would be hit, she got all her mini-stugs away from the base and on low ground, and ordered all her drones in the air, and far away from the base. John Henry did his best to track incoming. In his lab, John Connor had finished telling the General what his mother had said about expecting a surprise Sky Net attack when the air raid siren went off.
At the Connor house, Sarah hustled Allison down into the bunker she'd made and packed with food, supplies and guns. Allison noted the four anti-radiation suits.
"What about Mommy and Daddy?" Allison cried.
"They will be inside bunkers at the airfield. Don't worry about them," Sarah said firmly.
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Cameron knew the lab in the Weaver house was not a safe place. Only partially underground, even with reinforcement, she knew it was vulnerable to even a near-hit. She tried to call John. His phone was out of service. She then heard a loud squeak on the line and her phone went dead, as did all their monitoring equipment. There had been a high air burst, the EMP had wiped out their communications.
"Sky Net has started it's attack," John Henry said in a monotone voice.
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Sky Net quickly took advantage of the carnage and chaos. While humans scurried for safety, it activated the hundreds of thousands of H/K's that it had been building and storing. No more had the mushroom clouds begun to rise over cities, when H/K's swarmed in to complete the destruction of the human infrastructure. Power plants, shipyards and military installations became undefended targets from the EMP waves caused by the nuclear blasts. For a full day, the H/K's met no resistance from humans as they destroyed everything they came across. Mini-stugs raced straight for oil fields in the mid east and Russia. Terminators build underground came out to slaughter any humans they came across in the wake of the mini-stug invasions. In Asia, Sky Net had complete control of land and air.
In Europe and North America where the nuclear attacks had been minimized,mini-Stugs and H/K's swept out from isolated underground bases to wreak havoc across the country, and found defenses still in place. Sky Net's machines did major damage, but they had to fight every inch of the way.
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Cameron received reports of H/K's dropping gas bombs in the direction of LA and San Diego. Luckily, none were critically close to the base. All electronics had gone dark, victims of EMP from a high air burst.
Thankfully, Cameron had grounded her drones. Now, she ordered them airborne again to return to their patrol routes. Upon ordering each one, she received replies, telling her none were lost. Leaving them to their tasks, she brought the mini-Stugs back to base as she went out to see how the base fared.
Getting outside, she paused upon seeing smoke rising from the airfield. During the attack, they had been hit with conventional missiles. "John" she breathed, and ran for now destroyed tech building.
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In Sarah's underground bunker, Allison got up and went to the door.
"Allison, what are you doing?" Sarah barked.
"I have to go get Mommy and Daddy and see if they are all right," Allison said in a stressed tone.
"Stay here. Allison, if you go out there, you will endanger yourself," Sarah snapped.
"I'll be OK, Gramma, I can fight back," Allison explained. She then opened the door and closed it behind her.
"ALLISON!" Sarah screamed.
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Cameron was also aware Sky Net would descend on them some time soon. Running up to the remains of the newly rebuild tech building, she noticed the command building was burning. Not the yellow of a normal fire, but the bright glow of incendiaries. That meant the bunker below was doomed. The intense heat would burn right down through into the ground. If anyone was alive in there, they wouldn't be for long.
Digging into the rubble of the tech building, Cameron threw large chunks of debris to the side. She'd uncovered the stairway when a voice sounded out from behind and above her.
Mommy!" Allison cried as she flew in to land behind her. "We gotta find Daddy!"
"He's down here, help me dig," Cameron replied.
Debris didn't just come out, it flew out of the hole as Allison put all her mind hands to work clearing the stairway. Chunks of concrete and even broken beams shot up out of the hole. In no time, they cleared the stairway.
Allison dropped down in front of the door and banged on it. "DADDY, ARE YOU IN THERE?" she screamed.
Cameron pushed the talk button on the intercom beside the door. "This Cameron and Allison Connor outside. Is John in there?"
The door opened and John stuck his head out. His face was pale. Cam ... we didn't stop it," he said weakly.
In her flat tone, Cameron said, "I'm sorry, John. This place is not safe. Sky Net knows where it is. We have to go."
"Come on, Daddy," Allison said as she opened the door a little wider and clasped her father's hand. "The Sky Net's coming, we have to go."
"Mom's shelter," John said.
"We can expand it ..." Cameron said, then got a report from one of her drones. H/K's were coming. Hundreds of them. "We have to go now, H/K's are inbound."
Cameron ordered her drones to attack from the sides, and set dual lines of mini-Stugs at the base perimeter to intercept them. From the sheer numbers, she knew she was going to loose, but at least her machines would slow them down.
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There were fifteen other techs with John. Six ran out to warn people as the rest followed John to his house. Cameron stayed at the back of the group with Allison, who was nervously watching behind them. As they ran, four mini-Stugs behind them kept pace. With the house in sight, they heard the distant roar of the mini-Stug cannons.
Her senses peaked from the adrenaline coursing through her system, Allison felt stray rounds coming at them. She knocked them away. "Mommy, they're getting closer!" she cried.
"I know," Cameron said flatly. Her drones were mixed up in air battles and falling out of the skies. Not enough H/K's fell. A large pack were still coming at the base, even though they were loosing numbers from her drone and mini-Stug attacks. The H/K's split up, forcing her to pull her machines into a large circle. H/K's were close enough now to shoot straight down onto her mini-Stugs, which could not shoot straight up. She maneuvered them to avoid as many hits as possible. The four behind her, she had spin around and drive backwards to target the H/K's over her force.
Something hit the back of Cameron's leg, causing it to buckle. She went down, stopping a few inches from the ground as Allison caught her.
"Sorry Mommy, I missed one," Allison cried.
"Go," Cameron told Allison and pushed her along. They then heard an H/K coming up fast behind them. Cameron turned as it appeared over her Stugs. She had no chance to move her machines to stop it.
Something snapped in Allison. She grew a snarl and shot up in the air at the H/K. "Leave My Mother ALONE!" she screamed. Thrusting two mind Hands quickly into it, the H/K exploded. Allison bounced back to the ground to fly up at another H/K. This one exploded as well.
Angry at these things for shooting her mother, Allison charged them. The third H/K was a little too high. She shot a long thin Hand out and grabbed it, pulling herself up. Close enough, she smashes this one, then another that was racing at them. Below, the Stugs that were not Mommy's were coming down the street. Allison dropped low and shot along above them, punching each one into the ground as she passed. At the end if the line she saw another H/K coming. She grabbed the last destroyed vehicle and flung it at the H/K with all the strength of her hate in the throw. The Stug came apart in the air. The H/K dodged the main body, but a road wheel was sucked into it's engine, blowing the engine up. The H/K spiraled down. A hard punch from a mind Hand finished it off to erupt in a ball of fire.
Even though Allison was angry, she did not flail out or loose her wits. Allison discovered a couple new things. Her mind Hands could work independent, not affecting her, or she could work them fixed to her body. When fixed to her body, they moved her, too. Grabbing large amounts of air, she could push herself up that way also. With controlling her Hand motions, she didn't seen to tire as easily.
It was also time to remember Sun Tsu. 'When you are strong, feign weakness, when you are weak, feign strength'. The H/K's were spread out and so were the Stugs. She had to get them chasing her.
Envisioning her Hands as propellers, Alison shot above the ground close enough for the Stugs to see, and also high enough for the H/K's to see. She didn't fight back, but dodged and deflected their rounds, zig zagging and using buildings for cover. Soon, a pack of H/K's were following her. The rounds that came close, Allison deflected to the sides.
Allison got down low and raced ahead to duck behind a building. She burst through the back wall and raced back through the building as the H/K's formed up to shoot her as she either came around the other side or the side she's ducked in on. Allison burst through the front wall and shot straight up and at the H/K's. In focused, powerful hits, she slammed down on six H/K's driving some to the ground and splitting a few others in two.
"Six for six, nothing but wreckage," she said, casting an evil grin at the destroyed machines.
Racing back the way she had come, Allison met another group of Stugs coming to get her. Again, a Hand fist down on each one squashed it flat, making a crater under the destroyed machine as bits flew away from the impact.
Hearing shots, Allison raced back where her family was. Another group of Sky Net mini-Stugs were attacking Mommy's. Allison got low, slinging herself along and split each one apart from behind. She got the ones trying to get around Mom's defense, the ones coming directly at them, then circled around and got the other ones trying to come from the other side. Once those were gone, she shot up above the house, snapping her head side to side, searching for more of those despicable things to destroy.
"COME ON!" Allison roared. "WHERE ARE YOU? YOU WANNA FIGHT? COME FIGHT ME!"
"Allison!"
John looked up at his daughter floating in the air a few hundred feet above the house. "Allison!" he screamed again. Seeing her look down, he waved in a large arm movement. He watched Allison plummet down, the ground thumped leaving two very large hand prints on either side of her just before she dropped in front of him.
"Is Mommy going to be OK?" Allison asked in a worried tone.
John was taken aback. Allison's eyes had turned red. Her face didn't look friendly at all. She bore a predatory look. "Sweetie, Mommy's hurt. What were you doing?" he asked.
"I killed those things, Daddy." Allison explained, "I am tired of them bothering us! No more! When they come, I will CRUSH them!" She then cocked her head and asked, "I hear more farther away. Do you need help fixing Mommy?"
"I can fix your mommy," John said vacantly as he looked at a girl who bore little resemblance to his sweet Allison.
"Then I'm going to go kill more of them," she stated. Allison bounced up onto the rooftop, then off into the sky towards Palmdale.
Allison was his sweet little girl. John also had to face the fact she was indeed a monster.
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Allison had discovered what her classmates had been trying to coax her into during their experiments. The air blowing in her face from her speeding through the air, was taken care of by forcing a Hand into a cone directly in front of her. Her two 'propeller' Hands sped her along faster when she angled them the right way.
Ahead, an H/K was cruising low, shooting as a building. Allison flew over it, swiping it with a 'sword' mind Hand. The H/K split in half and exploded. Several were above Palmdale. She moved from one to another, destroying them. A pair charged her. She met them head-on, ramming a fist into each one, blasting them apart. On the ground, some Stugs were shooting. She dove down and destroyed them, leaving the remains in ten foot deep craters. Moving out to the suburbs, she found a few more and slammed them down into the ground.
Seeing a curious sight, Allison noted a pack of men walking along with guns. Allison dropped down in front of them. "You should all get inside," she told them.
They all responded by shooting at her. Allison stopped the bullets, frowning at them. The men kept waking towards her shooting until their guns ran out. Allison let all the spent bullets collected on her mind shield drop at once in a metallic rain.
"Who are you?" she asked in malevolent tone.
One cocked his head at her. "You are not human," he stated
"Are you?" she asked.
"Come with us, or we will kill you," he said in the same flat tone.
Allison laughed as she pointed at them. "YOU are going to kill ME?" she chuckled, and let out another belly laugh.
The men reloaded their guns and fired again in a relentless stream. Allison blocked these bullets with two mind hands then grabbed all seven of their heads and crushed. Their bodies jerked as heir heads crushed in on themselves, spitting out sparks. All seven collapsed to the ground. She picked up one and tore him apart. He had flesh, but was metal on the inside. Sky Net machines.
A brief sound of gunfire and screams came from a house ahead and off the road. Allison paused to lock onto the sound. A woman cried, begging for mercy. Another short round of gunfire sounded. Allison saw the large house it was coming from. Flinging herself just above the ground, Allison sped towards the house She went in through broken down front door to hear another door upstairs be kicked in. A pleading scream of, "Nooo!", gunfire, then only footsteps. Allison raced up the stars to see another man with a gun walking down the hallway.
"Hey, you!" Allison snapped.
The man spun and aimed at her. Allison snapped his wrist off, then dragged him to her. She pulled him upright, holding onto his arms and legs. He stared blankly at her.
"Metal head, do you have contact with Sky Net?" she asked.
He just stared at her.
"Must be dumber than you look," she mussed. She crushed his head, then ripped it off.
Allison let the body fall, the looked to see who else was alive here. The door he'd just came out of had a teenager crumpled in the corner, blood spattered everywhere. The girl was obviously dead.
"Hey, anyone alive here?" Allison called.
Allison looked in another room that wasn't locked. It looked like a study. "Hello?" she asked.
"Ally?" a tiny voice called.
Allison stepped back out to see a wide, eyed Byron peeking out at her. "Byron?" she asked.
"Ally!" Byron cried as he ran to her. Clasping her hand, he blubbered, "These guys came and started killing everyone! Mom told me to hide, but he was coming after me, I heard him! Come on, we gotta hide!"
"I got him," Allison said, pointing back towards the body. "Are you hurt?"
Byron shook his head. "I'm scared. I think Mom, Dad, and Gina are all dead," he said with a sniffle.
Allison had planned on hunting down every Sky Net thing she could find to destroy it. She hadn't planned on seeing Byron, and she was not going to leave him alone and scared. "Come with me, I'll take you someplace safe," she told him.
"You ... killed him?" Byron asked, seeing the headless body.
"Yes, and I will kill anyone else who tries to hurt you. I think I should take you home with me."
Byron nodded absently through his tears. "What about ..." he swallowed and didn't finish.
"I can't help them. I can save you, come on," Allison said and gently pulled him along.
Byron went with her. He screamed when he saw his sister's body. Allison had to help him keep his feet. He squeezed her hand hard with both of his, refusing to look anywhere except for down as they left. Allison diverted him out the back door so he wouldn't see the bodies of his parents.
As Allison walked along past the wrecked and burning houses , the shocked and dazed people only saw a girl leading a boy and looking like she knew where she was going. They followed her.
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The inside of the Connor house was free of gas, and so far no radiation from the Geiger counter Sarah had set up. Cameron, John Henry and John Connor with two techs were in the living room piled with dirt from below from Sarah's efforts to enlarge the bunker.
John scanned his few people and said, "John Henry, see if you can get some form of communication up, you two guys, help him. Mom, see if anyone has medical experience. We need to set up an aide station. Cameron, what are your mini-Stugs finding?"
"Nothing active, John. Allison wiped out the remaining Sky Net forces here. She is currently in Palmdale. No H/K Activity left there. Allison has gone to ground level, most likely she is removing Sky Net ground units," Cameron replied in her flat tone.
John nodded and said, "Mom, give me anyone you can spare. I'm going out to look for survivors and see about transportation. Cam, try to find Allison and help her if you can. We need to find people and regroup."
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Catherine Weaver extended her emergency radar and long range optical scanners. Her factory had been caught on the edges of the gas attacks. The reinforced seals of the factory held up. She knew many of her workers were probably going to die in the next few weeks from attempting to go home, even though they had been warned. She had to arraign full automation before then.
John Connor had given her the semi sentient AI programs for their war machines. Catherine send her mini-stugs out to ambush points to face the Sky Net force coming at her factory. She kept her drones in the hangers, missiles primed.
The H/K force lead the attack. Catherine waited until they were at close range, then launched her drones en-mass. The drones locked on and fired missiles as they climbed up to meet the H/K's. The H/K's received another volley, which thinned their ranks again. Then the drones used their lazers. Thinned out by Cameron's machines, then Allison, and now two missile volleys, the H/K's were finished off by the drones. Only a handful of Catherine's drones were left, but they were the only thing in the air. They flew on to hit Sky Net mini-stugs from the air as the attackers ran into her ambush points.
So far, from what Cathrine Weaver saw, it seemed like they were doing much better than the first Judgment day. Many more humans were left, and many cities that had been initially wiped out, were still standing. Many of the human armed forces around the world were on their knees, spread thin by their own attacks and Sky Net's onslaught. They were still standing, however.
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In deserts and forests and other remote places of the world, antennas rose up from their underground storage. The Sky Net web came on line. All the initial mass attacks against general areas became more coordinated with communications. In an industrial section of Peking and in Hong Kong, H/K's dropped hundreds of gas bombs to eliminate any leftover humans. On the ground, Mini-stugs came in guarding the large machines carrying Sky Net equipment. Rolling over collapsed buildings, the mini-stugs shot into every apartment building and residence that still stood. If fires weren't burning under bridges or in tunnels, flame throwers poured fire into them to burn out any remaining humans. Wrecked industrial buildings were shored up and machines went to work salvaging and repairing so more machines could be made. This same procedure was happening In many cities around the globe.
The reports from the attack on the rough AI's were dismal. Once again, all Sky Net's forces were destroyed. Whatever weapon John Conner had developed, was very powerful. Unlike before, now Sky Net had a large land mass as a base. Soon, it would create an army so large, not even John Conner could not possibly stop it.
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The airfield had gotten hammered. This time, there were no soldiers left except a few wounded few who'd managed to hide when Sky Net swept through. Everyone left on base, and the people who'd followed Allison back to base pulled together and began salvaging what they could. The base hospital was in ruins, a couple doctors and a handful of nurses who'd survived took over a quonset hut to begin a medical center.
The instant John found a working vehicle, he had a team head for Palmdale to see what help was needed there. John Henry had communications back up, and found the San Diego naval base had also gotten hit hard, as did many other places. From what he gathered, most of the Sky Net forces had been destroyed on the west coast and halfway to the Mississippi. East of the Mississippi, the fighting was still going on, but Sky Net was not winning the mass battle of attrition. Millions were dead, but they were not defeated.
Due to Russia and China nuking each other, heads of state were now listening to John Henry's pleas that one source was causing all of this devastation. China, India, North and South Korea as nations were gone, Russia was bad off as was Japan. The remaining human military powers called a cease fire on each other, and began grouping together against Sky Net machines.
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John took charge of the base and directed people in everything from setting up a hospital, to organizing armed patrols and rescue efforts. John Henry managed to restore radio communications with a General Parks. John got on the radio and explained what their situation was, the few forces they had scraped together, and told him as soon as they were able, what he planned on.
"Sir, we are concentrating on building remote drone and small armored vehicles, our factory is still intact. So far, we have no men trained for combat. As soon as possible we will be recruiting. Anything you can send will be a big help," John explained.
"You said your name was Conner?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Well damn fine job, Mr. Conner. You've done better there than just about anywhere else, and one of the few commands we have contact with. Look, I have to level with you. We got nothing to send, not even a damn boyscout with a slingshot. This is a time of crisis. As the new Chief of Staff, I'm making you General John Conner, in charge of the Southwest sector. That's California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Will you accept this responsibility?"
John sat stunned. "If you need me that badly, yes Sir," he said vacantly.
"Great. We've heard nothing from the Nevada command at all, and The last word from San Diego was they were under attack. There are some men up in Utah and out in Arizona. I'll inform them you're the man to see. At the moment, we need to concentrate on defense."
"Understood, Sir. John Henry is the communications man they can talk to," John said, his head still spinning from his sudden appointment.
"Right. I suppose you got a mess there, so I'll let you get to it. Good luck, General Conner."
John heard clapping behind him. Turning, he saw John Henry, Cameron, and six civilians from Palmdale, and a couple techs, cheering his appointment.
Cameron, still wearing a head band to cover her bare metal forehead, said, "Congratulations, General. What are your orders, Sir?"