Chapter 285

Hello Mother

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In Some Future:

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Cameron continued flying the Skynet transport through the LA River. It was a glorified flood control channel. She only came above the sides to clear downed bridges. It became obvious to the Resistance the aircraft wasn't under Skynet control. There were no more potshots at it.

Skynet always came straight in without any deviation. They always launched a frontal attack with no let up. It wouldn't be with a single transport without drone support. It was clear someone must have commandeered the transport and was running for their lives. The damage to it was reported as well. Further reports came in how the transport downed three HK drones and it was unarmed. Everyone knew it meant the personnel on board were the ones who shot them down. There was no doubt about it, such achievement was the work of some good shooting.

The power plants were in need of cooling so Cameron slowed her speed as she moved through the flood control channel. She thought it would seem less threatening to the Resistance as well. There was no more weapons fire directed at them. Instead, something else began to happen.

Cameron began to see people coming out of hiding and cheering them on as she flew by. They began lining the sides of the flood control channel. Word seemed to have spread like wildfire. It was something which never happened before. Someone pulled a fast one on Skynet. Everyone figured whoever it was, must have some 'stones'.

She was unsure of the reaction it seemed to create. She didn't know if it was a good thing, or a bad thing waiting to develop. She knew if they thought she was a Terminator it would turn into a bad thing. She needed to play things as Allison's sister. The ride on top of the transport made it all the more believable as far as her appearance was concerned. It was probably one of her worst hair days ever.

Cameron decided at the first sign of an organized Resistance unit, she would let the captured women and girl off before continuing on. She wanted to make sure they were in safe hands and out of danger. The transport was still a target. She spotted a squad of Resistance fighters up ahead. She slowed and set down in the channel on the broken cement. There was a downed bridge. It could act as a way up for her passengers. The walls of the LA River were about twenty feet high at the point where they were.

She turned control of the aircraft over to one of her clones. Cameron was the first one down the ramp. She wanted to make sure it was safe for the girls and passengers. She was followed by Allison and Vanna. They were soon joined by the rest of the females. Jesse and two of the clones brought up the rear.

Cameron previously switched her clothing back to what the rest of the girls wore. With her current appearance, Allison and her looked like sisters. She wanted to take control of the situation and defuse any problems before they started.

The uniform Cameron's two clones wore caused a mild panic. Allison and Vanna explained they were being helped by the Friendly Terminators. The group of females quickly backed them up and said they were the ones who freed them.

She designated her clones as, One, Two, and Three. It was Vanna's suggestion to help communicate with each one and avoid confusion. It was better than the 'one with the green eyes', the 'one with black hair', or the 'one with big breasts'. They would all decide on names for them later on.

Cameron asked if there was any secure location to take the transport. She knew Skynet would come looking for it. It could be salvaged now instead of being destroyed if they could take it to a secure location. Five of the squad boarded the transport along with Cameron and her group. The women who were prisoners were led to safety by the rest of the squad. They all thanked Cameron and her group for rescuing them. Vanna and Jesse both spoke with the girl and told her the same thing happened to them, more than a few times. They told her to be strong.

Jesse and Vanna told the women if it ever came down to it again, to save the last bullet for themselves…. The girls gave the women the handguns they acquired. Jesse also gave one her knife. They all assured her they would. None of them wanted to fall back into the hands of Scavengers. Now they could fight and try and take as many of them with them as possible, and still save the last round for themselves.

Cameron explained her entourage was a delegation from another part of the state trying to make contact with the West Coast Resistance. She explained they came across some reprogrammed Terminators who now worked with them. The soldiers informed them they worked with some Friendly Terminators as well. They said they were called Restorators. There was still a lot of resistance there to any kind of Skynet 'equipment', even if it helped them. She explained the Terminators did more than just help them.

She noticed some of the soldiers look at Vanna, and whispered among themselves. She listened to them. She knew what they indicated.

Vanna noticed and stepped forward with Allison and Cameron on each side of her. She wanted to know why they were looking at her and discussing her. She didn't like where it was going. Something like it could lead to abuse later on. She wasn't about to put up with anything like it. She wanted to nip things in the bud before anybody got the wrong idea.

"Is there some problem here?" Vanna asked.

The soldiers tried not to look offensive. They didn't want to sound offensive either.

"We're sorry if we offended you. We weren't trying to be rude." A soldier said. "You remind us of the General who is the current leader of the Resistance in this sector."

Vanna's heart skipped a few beats. She was sure who it was. How could it be anyone different? The description of the General's appearance confirmed what they suspected.

Cameron hoped it would prove to be good news. She didn't want to reveal too much before she found out more herself.

"What's her name?" Cameron asked.

She already knew what the answer was going to be.

"General Weaver." Another soldier said.

Cameron and Vanna exchanged looks. They found her. Mrs. Weaver was here….

"She's my mother." Vanna said. "Can you tell us where to find her?"

The soldiers looked a little apologetic now.

"Even better, we can take you to her." The soldier said. "I'm pleased to meet you."

The squad leader used his radio. He seemed to get everything cleared and arranged. Instructions were given to the clone flying and they set off in the direction as instructed.

"There will be a crew waiting to take this transport upon our arrival." The squad leader said. "You'll be taken to meet the General. First they will have you clean up and get new clothing."

Cameron was aware their clothing looked atrocious, with rips, burn marks, and dried blood. There was a lot of dried blood. Everything they wore was taken from the dead.

The squad leader looked at the Skynet uniforms the three clones still wore.

Cameron wanted to make things clear. She didn't want anyone to have the wrong idea.

"They needed to 'borrow' the uniforms to help us break the girls we just let off out of a Skynet base camp." Cameron said. "They were going to be assigned to dangerous work. Everyone knows bad things happen to females when they're in a work camp. They helped us get them out. We couldn't have done it without them."

The soldiers looked at them. They were even more in awe after what they heard already.

"Do you mean you broke into a Skynet base?" The squad leader asked.

Cameron pointed around her.

"Of course we did. All of us did. Where did you think we got this transport from?" Cameron asked. "We freed the females and took it. We also disabled all of the HK drones which were parked there before we left. They were all set to crash one minute after they took off. It was to ensure their destruction. We shot down three more of them on our way here from different sectors."

The soldiers nodded. It took some stones, and they were all females. Then again the one said she was the General's daughter. It sounded like she acted the part too.

"Can you tell us about it?" The squad leader asked. "What's it like inside one?"

Cameron didn't have any trouble putting some 'spin' on her story and what it was like inside a Skynet facility. She actually visited quite a few of them. Some of them were after they were controlled by the Resistance. Some of them were when she was still a slave to Skynet.

She didn't like to think about some of the terrible things she did. She would rather think about the things she did when she was freed from her servitude to an evil master. It was an evil master she since destroyed on multiple occasions. She always made sure Skynet knew it was her. She was very proud of what Duplicate Cameron did to a parent Skynet. The backpack nuke was a nice touch to ensure it was completely vaporized. She decided to tell them what they wanted to hear. The majority of it was actually true.

"We were making our way here on foot." Cameron said. "We came across a big battle and saw the three females were soon the only ones left in the fight against a lot of Grays and some Skynet Terminators."

Cameron indicated her three clones.

The men looked spell bound. Cameron wasn't sure if it was the story, or they were concentrating on her. She didn't want to know. She hoped they weren't fascinated with her appearance. Maybe she should have messed up her hair a little more and let it cover her face better. She still didn't see what other people saw when they looked at her. She was just like everyone else. The only person who it really mattered to her about was John. She knew her appearance was very important to John. John wasn't there. The girls were. She went on with the story.

"Three Terminators moved to flank them while the Grays pinned them down." Cameron said. "It was when we made our move and entered the fight. We knew from experience the Skynet forces weren't used to being challenged. They were in for a surprise when they met us."

The soldiers all looked at each other. They never saw any type of bravery on the battlefield where they were at with mostly men and a few women. None of the females there looked like they were much older than teenagers.

"It was just the four of you against those odds?" A soldier asked.

Cameron was used to it.

"Yes. My sister and the girls took on the Terminators." Cameron said. "They learned what it was like to have the fight taken to them. They didn't do so well once the tables were turned."

The soldiers looked at each other. Such ferocity was unheard of.

"Do you mean you girls fought three Terminators alone?" The squad leader asked.

Cameron didn't think her story was too far from the truth. In order for one to survive, in any future, they needed to fight. If they didn't fight they would end up terminated. Fighting was the only way to survive.

"Yes." Cameron said. "Life is hard where we come from. You either fight or you die. We didn't plan to die. We've all seen too much death as it is. The meek won't inherit the earth. It's those who are willing to fight for what is right who will."

The soldiers were more than impressed. Until the new General arrived, it seemed most of the battles they were in were barely survivable.

"Wow!" One soldier said. "They should make you officers."

Cameron smiled. She actually thought if anyone was the General, it was her. She didn't need a title. She was about action. Someone needed to do it. She knew they didn't always like the way she did things, she did them anyway. Things didn't get done thinking about them. She didn't think it would hurt to give the girls some official status. They would all make good officers anyway, with or without a title.

"We are where we came from." Cameron said. "We wanted to check in first and not push our rank around. We're all fighters. The safety of our troops always comes first with us."

The men all stood up a little straighter when they realized they were in the presence of 'officers'. Based on their clothing they never would have guessed. Based on their actions, it made a lot of sense.

"What happened during the battle?" One of the soldiers asked.

Cameron thought the story should give them more than a few things to think about. She actually was involved in similar events before.

"The girls took on the three Terminators." Cameron said. "I went down and flanked the Grays."

The squad leader wanted to make sure he heard Cameron correctly.

"Wait." The squad leader said. "You went to engage the Grays alone?"

Cameron smiled. She was sure he would like the weapon she used even better.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I was able to capture a 'plasma thrower' in an earlier battle."

The soldiers looked worried. They heard a lot of stories about 'plasma throwers'. They were like 'flame throwers' but a lot worse.

"Are those things for real?" One soldier asked.

Cameron looked at them with a very serious look. It wasn't hard for her to do. It was harder for her not to look serious all the time.

"They're very real". Cameron said. "I was able to flank the Grays and shower them with burning plasma."

The soldiers looked worried. They could only picture what it was like. They all viewed the after effects of plasma grenades and even plasma mines.

"Was it a horrible death for them?" One trooper asked.

Cameron thought back to what she heard when the plasma mine went off in the Scavenger's hovel. She thought about the one Scavenger who survived a little longer than the rest of them did.

"There was a lot of screaming." Cameron said. "It was the break the three Friendlies needed to break free and finish off the survivors. Their suffering was very short lived."

The squad leader wanted to know about what was happening elsewhere.

"What about the other three Terminators?" The squad leader asked.

Allison, Vanna, and Jesse were all aware of battles in their future they fought in.

Jesse thought she could add a little to the story herself.

"We were able to get a 'rope a dope' mine and place it along their path." Jesse said.

The soldiers all took a new look at her. Her accent didn't match her appearance. It somehow made her more intriguing and mysterious. The weapon she described was unknown as well.

"What's a 'rope a dope'?" Another trooper asked. "How does it work?"

Jesse thought about weapons used in the past. It actually wasn't a new concept.

"It can be directed like a Claymore, but shoots out a series of braided steel cables. It's like an advanced bolas." Jesse said. "They wrap around the legs of a Terminator and cause them to trip and fall. They can eventually break out of them, but they're down for a while. When they're down they're vulnerable. It was when we acted."

Allison wanted to get her part of the story in as well.

"It's when we moved and fried them." Allison said. "We acted quicker than they thought was possible. They never even got a shot off. We know how to cook them."

Allison held out her plasma rifle.

The squad leader's eyes widened as he looked at the weapon. Everything he ever handled was used and beat up.

"Your plasma rifle is brand new." The squad leader said. "It's Skynet issue."

Vanna didn't want any speculation. She didn't want their minds to wander too far. She indicated where they were again. It seemed pretty evident to her how they were acquired.

"Where do you think we got it from?" Vanna asked.

Cameron wanted to go on with the story. She was pleased with all the spin which was already put into it. It was actually multiple episodes from several different futures combined into one story.

"We finished off the three Terminators and the twenty Grays." Cameron said. "We hooked up with the Friendlies and they told us about a group of females and a girl they were tracking. They Previously took the Scavenger camp under observation where they were being held. Before they could move in, the Skynet forces raided the Scavenger camp. They killed the men and took the females. When they told us about them, we decided to go in and spring them."

The soldiers all showed a little fear. It was something much more daring than any of them would attempt on just about every account.

"You went into a Skynet base alone with a couple of girls?" The squad leader asked.

Cameron almost tilted her head slightly. She caught herself at the last moment. She didn't think it was anything she hadn't done before. The girls were all good fighters.

"Yes." Cameron said.

It seemed it would take a death wish to approach a Skynet base, let alone enter one. The troopers were all more than a little uneasy.

"How did you breach the defenses?" A trooper asked.

Cameron smiled. It actually wasn't too far from the truth. It was what she originally planned to do with the girls to get inside previously.

"We walked right in the front door." Cameron said.

There were hushed exchanges among the soldiers. They wondered how it was possible.

"You walked in the front door?" The squad leader asked.

Cameron indicated their clothing.

"We put together three Skynet uniforms from the dead for the Friendlies." Cameron said. "We exchanged our clothing from some picked up off of the battlefield. The Friendlies took us in as 'prisoners'. None of the Skynet Terminators even blinked an eye. We were more concerned about the way some of the Grays looked at us. We thought we might have to act before we were ready. The Skynet Terminator boss kept them all in check and away from us."

There were more hushed tones among the soldiers. They knew bravery when they heard it. It seemed they kept hearing it.

"How did you know you would get out?" One trooper asked.

Cameron often wondered the same thing herself. There was more than one time when she entered an enemy location when she wasn't sure if she would come out. It didn't matter. The job still needed to be done.

"We didn't." Cameron said. "We knew the fate of the females if they were put in the general population. It would be after the Grays were done with them. The way they looked at us, we knew exactly what would be done to them."

The soldiers all heard stories of cruelty and abuse by Grays and other prisoners from escaped prisoners.

"You must have been worried it would happen to you." The leader said.

Allison cringed a little. She remembered what it was like when she was drug into the bunker by the Scavengers. Mrs. Weaver saved her.

"It crossed our minds." Allison said. "We were armed with handguns, knives and plasma grenades."

Vanna was aware of previous incidents at other work camps in her future.

"We planned to provoke an uprising if we could." Vanna said.

The squad leader was more than impressed. Maybe there was hope for the Resistance yet if they could get more fighters like the girls who stood before him.

"Wow!" The leader said. "They should make all of you Generals."

Allison smiled and saluted him playfully.

"How do you all look so good?" The squad leader asked.

Jesse knew the real scars were in her mind. She had ones on her body as well.

"We have scars too." Jesse said. "We know what pain is."

Jesse quickly flashed her scar and all the men winced.

Vanna didn't want to flash hers unless she needed to.

"We all have scars." Vanna said. "Some are in more private areas."

The men all winced again. They all imagined different private areas on a female body.

Cameron wanted to wrap the story up. She thought she gave the troopers enough to talk about. She knew the word of their exploits would spread through the local Resistance. She hoped it would give them a little more bargaining power with Mrs. Weaver if they arrived already respected.

"The guards there directed us to the holding area." Cameron said. "We spotted the women there. One of the Friendlies told the guard there she needed females with their smaller bodies for a work detail. The Friendlies took all of us away. The transport was sitting on the pad still, so they commandeered it."

They tried to imagine how daring it was to steal the Skynet transport right from the base. They could have been shot down.

"What about HK drones?" A trooper asked. "You must have been worried about them."

Cameron smiled. She reinforced her earlier statement. It really sunk in now.

"We weren't worried for too long. The Friendlies disabled all of the ones at the base before we left." Cameron said. "We only ran into three of them on the way here. We shot them down."

The soldiers looked at the hole in the side, and in the top of the fuselage. They saw multiple pockmarks in the middle of the fuselage before they entered the transport. It was clear a lot of bullets were shot at the aircraft as well.

"You should all be awarded medals." The squad leader said.

Vanna didn't think so. It was about doing what needed to be done, when it needed to be done. She always thought the medals should go to the fallen. They earned them the hard way.

"We just did our jobs and duty." Vanna said. "It's all we need to know. I'd want someone to do the same for me. If we don't take the fight to the enemy, we're never going to win."

Cameron and the girls left the soldiers in awe to talk among themselves. She could see her earlier plan at work. The squad would plant the seeds to spread throughout the Resistance about the 'woman warriors'. It would help breathe hope and new life into the Resistance. It seemed to be something every version of the Resistance needed.

She talked things over with the girls. They thought no one knew Mrs. Weaver was a Terminator. She figured Mrs. Weaver would be disguised as one of the personnel taking them to 'meet' General Weaver. It would be to check for any Skynet tricks. She thought it was a legitimate precaution based upon the circumstances of their unexpected and spectacular arrival. Mrs. Weaver was in contact with all of them before. She would be able to tell if they were the real people. As far as they knew, Mrs. Weaver could be one of the Resistance soldiers right here with them now. It was another reason Cameron wanted the story out there. It showed they didn't fool around. She also didn't want anything to mysteriously happen to them either.

The transport landed and a group of Restorators was waiting for them. Two Restorators boarded the craft and took off. The squad of soldiers was led away. Cameron and her group were instructed to follow a group of Restorators. They were all hard looking machines. Life there wasn't pleasant for them. They were treated as machines and used as tools to accomplish the job or mission, nothing more. It was something she didn't agree with. Her long term exposure with humans taught her there were better ways to do things, even if they weren't as efficient.

Cameron assigned one of her clones to each of the girls. They were to remain with them at all times. The girls knew they were really all 'Cameron' so it wasn't a problem for them. No one was picky over the appearance of any of the three.

She did try to assign the girls the female Terminator they looked at the most. There were always different things which attracted people to others. She tried to make it seem like it was a random choice. The sheath of the clones were all different, they all ran her program. It made them identical to her.

Cameron led the group followed by Vanna.

They went into an underground installation. They were checked for weapons. They previously turned them all over to the squad who accompanied them. They were thrilled to receive 'new' weapons for a change. Cameron wouldn't have a problem acquiring more. It didn't look like a trap but the real thing.

They were taken to a holding area. They were asked to strip and clean themselves and issued new clothing. The female issuing the clothing took special note of Vanna and Jesse. She looked at their scars.

Cameron saw her do a double take on Vanna….

She also looked over the perfect skin of Cameron and the not so perfect skin of Allison.

The girls put on their new uniforms.

Cameron looked around and everyone else was gone except the woman who issued the new uniforms.

Vanna looked at Cameron.

Cameron nodded.

"Hello, Mother." Vanna said.

A slight smile appeared on the female's face.

"Hello, Savannah." The female said.

She changed back into Mrs. Weaver wearing a General's uniform.

"I've been waiting for you…." Mrs. Weaver said.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Excellency

With great power
Comes great responsibility
To stay within the rules
Takes all ones honest ability

With authority over others
To take what one wants is easy
The rewards as seen by others
May make them seem sleazy

Dominance and control
Become a way of life
They use what they want
It matters not if it cuts like a knife

Others have been their prey before
Forced to submit to their Almighty power
To use, abuse and cast aside
Over them they do imprison and tower

Ascendancy is their luscious drug
Those they accost are their sacrificial fix
With their endless greed and lust
Beware of their past secret dirty tricks

Nobody