Chapter 796

I Heard

Cameron and the girls all shared a really special time dancing with each other. They headed outside to go back. It wasn't often they were all out together. This would be a time that all of them would remember. It was also a time they would want to repeat.

She planned to do this more often with Young Allison and Savannah. She might even bring John along. She thought it would be a good way for the four of them to share together. She wasn't so sure how John would take it. She was aware of the way that he looked at Young Allison when he was around her. That was what she wanted but not only in a sexual context.

Cameron was sure that part of that behavior was due to his obsessive viewing of certain scenes in 'Pretty Baby'. Part of that may have been her fault as well. She made a clip that he could view of just the scenes that he wanted to view over and over. That originally was intended for him to take advantage of the fact that Savannah was that the base and he knew where her room was. Savannah was even 'conditioned' to dress risque and remind John that he did know where her room was. After all, her wedding dress hung in Savannah's closet. She'd always wanted Savannah to become pregnant the traditional way. Not the way it was done artificially. Savannah's children weren't supposed to have ended up in two different futures. They were supposed to be children for the four of them to share as their own in this timeline. She suppressed a glitch impulse. She didn't want to think about this right now.

She wanted the four of them to share everything including love, not just sex. There was a lot on her mind that she would need to mull over and try to make everything work out the way it was supposed to so the 'Natural Order' could take hold and flourish. Right now she was very content in her current company.

The joyous mood abruptly ended.

The alert sounded on all of the Metal girl's and Savannah's phones.

The smiles quickly vanished from their faces. They all knew trouble when they heard it, even if they didn't know what that trouble was yet.

It was the alert they all feared. Someone in their group was under attack or in combat with Skynet forces. This wasn't something to take lightly. It meant that shots were being fired. It was the real deal. It meant that people could die and that machines could be destroyed.

Everyone checked their phones.

Savannah was especially disturbed to see Cammy was in trouble. It made her feel a little guilty about the current situation. Here she was out having a good time and living life up. Normally Cammy would be with her, today she wasn't. It was a cruel reminder as to how complicated life could be. It was what it was. It was time for action.

"Cammy, Ally and Sheila are in a jam." Savannah said. "They need our help."

Hanna understood the danger for what it was. Her two Metal 'sisters' and Cammy were in a scrape.

"We need to go now." Hanna said.

Claire held onto Hanna, Allison held onto Holly, Summer held onto Anna and Young Allison held onto Savannah. It was clear they didn't want them to go. They wanted them to stay but they knew they needed to go. Duty came first.

"CamNet has cleared the Iroquois for our use. We're closer than halfway to the airport right now." Cameron said. "We should go there directly."

Allison and Young Allison both wanted to go. They wanted to help the Metal girls. They wanted to go with Cameron and Savannah.

As more details came in, the nature of the threat became clear along with the severity of it. This wasn't a random encounter with a handful of Grays or even a Terminator. There was HK equipment involved from the start.

"No." Savannah said firmly. "If there are HK Tracks, there may be HK drones."

Allison didn't want to cause a problem but she did point out the obvious.

"You're going, Savannah." Allison said.

Young Allison didn't like it either but she understood.

"She HAS to go." Young Allison said softly as she nodded towards Cameron.

Allison and Young Allison both knew Savannah would keep Cameron from becoming too reckless.

The Detail pulled up next them. They didn't know the extent of what was happening. This looked like an isolated incident but it could be more far reaching.

Allison noted the extra muscle that was now available.

"The gang's all here." Allison said.

The Metal girls present made it all clear they were going to go due to the nature of the threat being specifically against Cammy, Sheila and Ally. Nobody put the girls in a corner without having to pay a price. The Metal girls and Savannah were there to collect that price.

Cameron would normally want the female Terminators to carry out their personal assignments with their human lovers or charges. The nature of this threat changed all of that for them personally. She would make changes to the situation accordingly.

"The Detail will take you back." Cameron said. "We'll take their van. It already has everything we will need in it.

Usually when there was a van involved in any of their operations it contained extra weapons and usually heavier weapons at that. This was no exception.

All of the human females understood what needed to be done and why. They gave their blessing to their personal Terminator protectors.

Young Allison wanted Anna to go with them. Allison told Holly to go as well. Claire gave Hanna a kiss and sent her along too.

The protesting, tears and 'byes' were over with quickly. They needed to move. Time was of the essence. Whatever was going to happen would most likely be concluded before they arrived. It was going to take some time to get there. One thing was for sure, whatever the outcome of the situation was; it wasn't going to be over until retribution was handed out.

Once they were inside the van, Savannah saw why Cameron took the Detail's van. There were two Stingers, four LAW rockets and an M60 along with the normal assortment of weapons. She wondered how much of that they would need to use. There was a feeling inside of her that it was going to be all of it before this was done.

Cameron quickly laid out the duty assignments. She wanted everyone to know what their specific job was going to be.

"Savannah will be the pilot." Cameron said. "Holly is the copilot. Hanna will man the Stingers. Anna will handle the LAW rockets. I'll take the 'Pig'."

They drove right up to the UH-1 and started to transfer gear as Holly did the preflight check along with Savannah. The turbine was fired up. The giant rotor started to spin. There was the constant throb of the 'chop – chop – chop' noise. Hanna parked the van and ran back and hopped into the Huey.

Savannah made sure everyone was secure in the back of the UH-1. Everyone gave her a thumbs up sign. She looked around her and then looked up. She wanted to make sure there were no mistakes.

"Holly, I want you to double check everything I do." Savannah said as she lifted off. "Everyone else watch for danger, aircraft, missiles and HK drones."

CamNet and John Henry both made sure that the airspace was clear for both helicopters.

Savannah pushed the redline as the UH-1 thumped its way across the sky.

Holly kept track of everything regarding the helicopter's performance. She began to notice an irregularity. It wasn't serious yet.

"Savannah, you're operating in the red." Holly said.

Savannah was grateful for the reminder. She knew that the current bird they were in was special. It was the one that was used yesterday.

"Thank You." Savannah said. "I'm going exceed the limits for a while. If I creep higher than this, tell me again. This bird can take the punishment. Cameron has modified it to be able to perform at a higher performance level."

Cameron mounted the M60 in the starboard door. Anna and Hanna readied their weapons as well.

The Iroquois thundered across the landscape. Savannah pushed it for all it was worth.

Cameron was pleased at her actions. She knew Savannah used caution but would push it when necessary. It was clear that this was a time of necessity. They all wanted to get there as soon as possible.

Ally and Cammy moved quietly across the roof towards the HK Tracks on the ground below them.

Cammy carefully glanced over the side. She observed the HK Track 'look around' as it scanned the area. She backed up from the edge.

Ally saw that her HK Track was headed back to the shredded van. It probably went to check for human remains inside of the wrecked van. It already moved away from the building. That wasn't good for her, now there was a greater distance she would have to cross to reach it. The HK Track could now turn to face her and engage her before she could reach it.

Sheila was about to make her entry through the skylight. She heard metal 'crack' and then 'snap' as she forced the window open. It wasn't loud but it was loud enough. If there was a Terminator or more HK Tracks inside, they would most likely be alerted.

Sheila watched Cammy back away from the edge and Ally indicated that she'd encountered a problem now.

Cammy crossed over towards Ally. As she passed Sheila, she told her to go inside.

Sheila lifted the frame of the painted glass of the skylight and rolled over the edge of the window sill.

Cammy held the window frame until Sheila dropped off and then let it close.

Sheila hung by her hands directly over the boxcar and dropped about ten feet down onto its roof. She was going to try and land as quietly as she could. She made a dull metallic 'thud' when she landed. The sound of her arrival made a little more noise than she'd anticipated. She quickly looked around and down both sides. Everything seemed quiet around her.

She saw there was a ramp near one of the boxcar's side doors. She decided to get off the top of the boxcar on the other side. She leaped off the boxcar and landed on the cement beside it. She was ready to dodge underneath the boxcar and come up on the other side with the ramp over her as cover. She would be under it.

Once she was there she carefully popped her head up to look around the interior of the building. She was below the level of the interior floor. She quickly noted where everything was at before she ventured out from the interior loading dock area.

Sheila quickly moved around the interior of the building. She saw where the HK Tracks appeared to have been parked. There was an automated door that would open and close for them. There was a sensor array that fed into the area where they were parked. It was a good bet that the HK Track's activation would also send a signal elsewhere. That meant Terminators, Grays, HK drones or all three could arrive soon. In short, it would be more trouble. It would probably be a lot more.

She reported her findings to John Henry. She also informed Cammy and Ally to expect hostile company. It began to look like the operation was just getting started. It was clear it was going to be a lot more than just taking down two HK Tracks.

So far the search of the interior building didn't indicate that there was anyone else inside in the way of Grays or Terminators. That was a good sign currently. There were no sleeping quarters she was able to see on her initial search so the operation may be totally remote.

Sheila wanted to check inside the boxcars next to see what was in them. She still needed to use caution and make sure no one was hiding. She thought if there were any hostile Terminators inside, she would have encountered them by now. There could still be some Grays hiding and waiting for reinforcements. Grays weren't known for their bravery. They were known for their treachery and cowardice.

Cameron received the report as well. She asked CamNet to establish communications with the Blackhawk. They were ten minutes ahead of them and pulling away. She would have liked to arrive with them to spread out the targets. If they encountered ground fire, they were vulnerable. With HK Tracks present, they couldn't safely approach the target area. With the minigun on the HK Tracks they became an effective anti-aircraft weapon at close range. That was based on the assumption that there wouldn't be any HK drones in the area or that arrived soon after they did.

Cameron was aware of what happened in and on top of the structure Cammy, Ally and Sheila were in. She knew from past experience in similar Skynet related buildings that there was usually something else that wasn't obvious at first that was there to act as a guard or sentry.

"Sheila, there will be someone or something else inside the building with you." Cameron sent out a warning.

Cameron was sure there was a lot more happening there than they knew. Sheila's report about the sensor array indicated that there would be more trouble on the way and in probably more than one form. That was pretty much par for the course. In other words, this was probably the tip of the iceberg.

Often Cameron faced these dangers alone. Sometimes she paid a horrific price in the damage done to her sheath. Right now someone else was going to take the heat. That didn't sit well with her. This operation wasn't going to be over until she determined it was over regardless of what happened now or even later.

Sheila received Cameron's warning. She backed up and looked around again. On the second boxcar, the door on the side she came down on was closed and welded. The door on this side wasn't welded. The ramp extended right up to the side of the boxcar below the closed door. The two HK Tracks probably came out of it before they were put on sentry duty.

She didn't see the threat Cameron warned her of. What was she missing?

Sheila felt an eerie feeling and it wasn't just because she was naked.

Cammy noticed what Ally indicated about her target. The one HK Track moved away from the building. It was now unsafe to attack that one with the weapons they currently carried. It held the advantage. They might be able to turn that to their advantage as far as it came to disable the other one. They would be able to double team it.

"Let's both take the other HK Track first." Cammy said. "We'll deal with this one later. We should have a few moments to prepare for it."

Ally wondered what stunt Cammy would pull to do that. She figured she would find out soon enough.

Cammy knew they needed to act and get out of there fast before Skynet reinforcements arrived. She peered over the side of the wall and the HK Track was headed for where the other one was at.

"Follow my lead." Cammy said and jumped over the side.

Ally would have hoped for a little better instructions from Cammy before she took off.

Cammy landed with a thud behind the HK Track. It tried to spin around to engage her. She was on the back of it now and it was unable to use its weapons against her. It jinked back and forth wildly as it tried to spin around to shake her off.

What Cammy hadn't anticipated was for the HK Track to call for the other one to come and help it. It was more than likely something that the two of them set up when they communicated previously due to the fact they'd been unable to find any additional targets on the ground after the attack on the van.

Ally was about to join Cammy when she heard the other HK Track rapidly approach. She headed back over in that direction and prepared to act. It sounded as if it moved at a very fast speed.

Cammy was able to Taser the HK Track and then shut it down. She heard the other HK Track coming to investigate. She would have little time to act or get away before it rounded the corner of the building.

She couldn't get back up on the roof and there was nowhere to go before it arrived. She was bound to be caught in the open or on the ladder with whatever choice she made if she attempted to run.

It appeared she was going to get lit up with the minigun or even have a missile fired at her, both seem to be rather grim prospects.

John and John Henry followed all the events as they unfolded. They knew the girls were in a jam.

John Henry detected more bad news. It was an unusual move even for Skynet. That seemed to indicate the seriousness of what was happening.

"I have two hostile HK drones approaching through the valleys of the 'Coast Range'." John Henry said. "They're risking a daylight raid."

John understood the danger for what it was. It wasn't just the Metal girls at the building, it was also the helicopters on the way there that would now be targets. The HK drones that they'd encountered so far weren't set up for air to air combat but that didn't mean that the ones that were on the way there now weren't set up for that. Either way, the minigun on them would still be a threat to both of the helicopters. They were going to need to respond in kind and do it now.

"Then we need to do that too. We need our drones there ASAP." John said. "Those helicopters are going to be sitting ducks."

They both knew Cameron and Savannah were in one of those 'sitting ducks'.

John wondered what they'd stumbled onto to risk such behavior by Skynet.

They knew that two of the boxcars we're inside the building but as of yet they didn't know what was inside of those boxcars. Maybe it was something different than they'd encountered before and Skynet didn't want them to get their hands on it. Maybe it was just retaliation for the fact that they'd defeated the Skynet forces and captured the three trucks full of HK drones.

Cameron received the report. She debated whether to tell Savannah to abort as well as the Blackhawk. They would be targets if they approached the area of hostilities. The fact HK drones were on the way was a game changer. She didn't want to endanger the team and she especially didn't want to endanger Savannah. It was time to make the hard call.

"Savannah…." Cameron started.

Savannah knew what Cameron was going to say. She'd already given it some thought. The Skynet forces wouldn't know what they were up against other than the fact that there'd been some activity at their ground facility. That should seem like a pretty localized event to them. If they had control of any of the radar they wouldn't have seen any air activity in the area either at the time of the incursion. She banked on the fact that the Skynet forces would need to use some moderation on what was going on around their compromised facility.

"I heard." Savannah said. "We will continue with the mission as planned. Get the Stingers hot. We should have an opportunity to get a shot off before they can determine if we're a threat to them or not."

The Blackhawk was currently painted as a firefighting helicopter. They were very common in California due to the year round fire season. If it appeared to be nothing more than that it shouldn't be a target. That would mean if they put any door guns in that they would have to make sure that the doors were closed to prevent them from being spotted, the same would apply to the Iroquois. It was clearly painted as a civilian bird.

Anna took the other Stinger and armed it. Hanna already did that on the other side. Cameron moved the M60 out of the way of the starboard door. There would be the firing blast to contend with as well when the Stinger's fired.

Cameron quickly spoke with Vanna and Anna.

"Has either of you two ever been to the circus…?" Cameron asked.

The Metal girls all looked at Cameron as she spoke with their heads tilted slightly to the side. As if on cue during Cameron's instructions, all of their heads tilted to the other direction at the same angle. If it wasn't for the nature of the threat, it would almost be comical.

The girls were a little surprised to hear what Cameron planned. It was highly unusual as well as unconventional.

John Henry received word that the helicopters were both still closing on the target area, even with the threat of HK Tracks and HK drones. He wasn't surprised to receive that information, especially from the helicopter that Cameron was in. He needed to inform John.

"Both helicopters have elected to continue the mission." John Henry said.

John looked up from his monitor and over to John Henry. That wasn't the news that he wanted to hear. It upset him greatly. Everyone was at risk now.

"Damn." John said.

John slammed the heel of his fist down on the table.

John Henry wanted him to know that not everything was written in stone. The situation could change in the air as it changed on the ground. There was still some time left before the aircraft would be in a critical operational area.

"It's a tactical call." John Henry said. "Things can change."

John strongly doubted that they would. That wasn't the way Cameron operated. She always threw caution to the wind and was willing to take the most extreme chances.

"Cameron has endangered everyone again." John said.

John Henry actually monitored the conversations that went on in the helicopters.

"That may be true most of the time." John Henry said.

John was irritated at the comment. He didn't need anyone to whitewash Cameron's actions.

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked.

John Henry could see that John was upset. He didn't think trying to explain it would be sufficient enough. He decided to replay the call by Savannah to continue the mission. The crew in the Blackhawk unanimously made the same call once they heard what Savannah said. It was clear all of their Terminators we're willing to follow Savannah into battle.

"Savannah made the call this time, not Cameron." John Henry said. "Cameron was willing to turn around and abort the mission. Savannah was not."

John listen to the exchange in the cockpit. He wondered how Savannah could face danger so often. He didn't know if he could. He wondered if Cameron turned Savannah into what Future John envisioned for him. Was Cameron willing to sacrifice Savannah to protect him? That was actually a question that he didn't want the answer to. He was afraid that he knew what it was and that Cameron would.

"Damn." John said again as he slammed the heel of his fist on the table a second time.

I Don't Want To Go

What are you doing
My feelings you're going to forgo
You're throwing me away
I don't want to go

I want to be with you
I enjoy being here
Why can't you understand
Why can't you even hear

My very inner self
Is what you are going to slay
You're torturing me to no end
Leaving me in a tattered disarray

I refuse to accept it
It's not in any way fair
Welcome to MY jungle
Some had better beware

If push comes to shove
I won't be the one to - go
I want to make it clear
I don't want to go

Nobody