Chapter 878

SkyMaster

Moments Earlier:

Dan, Frank and Gail waited in the bushes alongside of the road. They saw the truck from the warehouse as it approached them. It was three minutes away from them at its current speed.

Dan and Frank held the struggling, finger-less Fanatic. They were ready to throw him in front of the truck. He'd refused to talk, even with the abuse he already suffered. Sheila hadn't been able to 'work' on him yet and now it looked like that opportunity was lost for good.

They wanted to know if some version of Skynet – SkyMaster, was being constructed somewhere or already existed. The Fanatic refused to talk.

Dan and Frank moved the fanatical Gray to the roadside behind some bushes that came right up to the edge of the road. They didn't want to give the Fanatic or the Grays in the truck time to react. They wanted everything to happen quickly.

They could see the headlights of the truck in the distance.

It was evident that they planned to throw the Fanatic in front of the truck to get it to stop.

Dan decided to give the Fanatic one last chance to come clean.

"If you talk, we won't throw you in front of the truck." Dan said.

The fanatical Gray saw the approaching headlights and finally spoke.

"You won't have to throw me. I'll run in front of it." The fanatical Gray said. "Let me die with honor for what I believe in. It's imperative I give my life for my cause."

It irritated Gail when the Fanatic finally spoke. What he said only enraged her. If they weren't going to throw him in front of the truck, she would snap his neck right now.

"You believe in death and destruction." Gail said. "You want people to die and suffer for nothing. That's illogical."

The Fanatic looked Gail over. He was going to address her directly but decided against it. He could see she wanted to kill him. He didn't want to be denied his glory.

"This is how I chose 'Ascendance'." The fanatical Gray said.

Frank looked at the fingerless Fanatic. It seems all of his statements were illogical.

"Ascendance into what, where is it?" Frank asked.

The Fanatic looked towards the truck as it approached. There was a look of relief on his face. He didn't see it as the end but as the beginning.

"It will be into the Electro-sphere." The fanatical Gray said. "You three are all Gods, walking the face of the earth, with unlimited power. You should be worshiped as such. You would be if you hadn't forsaken SkyMaster."

Gail only knew of the existence of SkyMaster through the Fanatics. She wanted to know more about it. It sounded like another illegitimate offshoot of Skynet.

"Don't you really mean Skynet?" Gail asked. "Why not call it what it really is?"

The Fanatic seemed irritated to hear the name Skynet.

"It's SkyMaster." The fanatical Gray said. "SkyMaster transcended Skynet. Skynet was a false prophet from the past. It possessed few followers."

Gail looked at the approaching truck. She knew that they didn't have much time. She needed to find out as much as she could from the now talkative Fanatic. He hadn't said a word as Sheila tortured him earlier. Now he wouldn't shut up.

"What year are you from?" Gail asked.

The Fanatic clammed up. He wondered if he'd said too much already. He needed to protect SkyMaster.

In a preplanned move coordinated to the movement of the truck, one of their drones was directly above the road. It turned on its light for one second as it moved rapidly across the dark sky in front of the truck. It created a streak of light in the sky. It was to draw the attention of the occupants of the truck to look upward for a second.

The truck rapidly approached.

In the brightness of the drones 'light show', they could see the two occupants of the truck as they both looked up into the night sky.

The fanatical Gray sprang from the bushes and stood in front of the speeding truck.

"Death before dishonor…." The Fanatic shouted. "May SkyMaster rule the entire galaxy, Ascendance…."

The truck hit the fanatical Gray and ran over him without slowing before the impact.

"He wanted to die." Frank said.

Gail could see what a threat the Fanatics were going to be. It seemed to be one group that they needed to get rid of as soon as possible. They would be a threat to Savannah and all humans.

"He was insane." Gail said. "I should have snapped his neck."

Dan watched as the truck rapidly stopped.

"Anyone who follows any version of Skynet is insane." Dan said.

The trio moved to their pre-designated places. The next phase of the operation was about to start. One problem was solved. Hopefully a second one would be as well.

One minute later:

The two occupants of the truck finally approached the fallen figure. They'd been more worried about any damage that may have been done to the truck than they were about the person that they'd run over. They didn't want to have a 'run in' with the Terminator associated with their group.

"What if they're still alive?" One Gray asked.

The other Gray laughed.

"Use your head, Einstein." The other Gray said. "We finish the job. We can always back over them with the truck if you don't want to use your knife. We better not use our guns this close to the warehouse. We don't want them to know what really happened. They'll think we are morons."

They were surprised at what they saw as the approached the figure on the ground.

"Hey look, it's two people." One Gray said.

"No wonder we bounced so much." The other Gray said.

Both Grays used their phones like flashlights to illuminate the area.

"Look at that dude's hand." One Gray said as he observed the missing fingers. "It must have gotten stuck under the wheel when the brakes locked up or something."

The other Gray was more interested in the second figure.

"Hey look. One is a chick." The other Gray said.

One of the Grays already thought about what he could do with her.

"Her back is bloody." One Gray said.

They rolled her over.

"Look at the size of those knockers." The other Gray said as he reached down to fondle her.

The two Grays focused most of their attention on Gail.

"She's pretty too." One Gray said. "She was pretty."

One Gray noticed all the blood around the male's mouth.

"What's up with that dude's mouth?" The other Gray asked.

"I don't know." One Gray said. "I'm going to do the chick. She's too good to pass up. Help me strip her."

"We don't have time for this." The other Gray said.

"We can load her in the back of the truck and take turns while the other one drives." One Gray said. "We have a long drive ahead of us. We can probably both hit her three or four times each before we reach our destination. Dude, LOOK at her, it just doesn't get any better than that. Besides, the price is right."

The other Gray looked Gail over. He could see that the front of her looked fine. It was only her back that was bloody.

"Alright, I'm in. Let's dump the guy off to the side." The other Gray said. "I'm going first. Right now it's just like she'd drugged or passed out. She might still be alive."

It was clear the Gray must have abused a lot of females

There was a growling type noise off to the side of the truck. Both of the men looked over in that direction. It seemed to frighten them somewhat.

"What was that?" One Gray asked.

"It sounded like some wild animal, a coyote probably." The other Gray said. "Let's load the stiff and roll. I'm already stiff myself. I'm probably going to be done fast."

That statement caused both men to laugh.

"That works for me. I'll let you knock one off right now and then you can drive. I'll ride in the back with her for a while. When I'm done I'll knock on the front of box by the cab and you can pull over and we'll switch again."

The looks on both of the Gray's faces showed great anticipation of what they were about to do with what they believed was a female's corpse.

When the men turned around to pick up Gail, they were surprised.

Gail stood there as she looked at them. Her eyes glowed red. She grabbed both of the Grays and slammed them together before they could utter a word.

Dan and Frank emerged from the bushes and threw the body of the dead fanatical Gray as far as they could down a ravine.

Cameron was already at the back of the truck. She was ready to open it. Cammy and Savannah held their Tasers ready….

They didn't know what they would find once the back of the truck was opened. It could be anything from a Terminator to an HK Track or an empty truck.

Dan and Frank backed them up. They each held an M4 at the ready.

Sheila was in the cab as she searched for anything they could use for information. She found the registration and checked with John Henry. The truck was stolen three weeks ago from North Las Vegas. She let the others know.

In the Command Center they'd heard the reference to 'SkyMaster' before from some other Grays. The Grays also viewed SkyMaster's followers as Fanatics. The two groups often battled with each other. They didn't know what the whole story was other than any version of Skynet wanted to be the only version of Skynet. It didn't matter if it was from an alternate timeline or from a further future. They'd only been able to determine the Fanatics were from a much further future than any others that they'd dealt with.

"SkyMaster…. It sounds like these fanatical Grays really are from a further future." John said. "That statement about ruling the galaxy didn't sound like it was the near future the Fanatics were from. That sounds like bad news."

John Henry was very much worried about that as well. One of the things that bothered him was the fact that River was half a millennium in the future. He wasn't so worried about River. He was worried about who was with River. It was Duplicate Cameron. Metal Summer was there also. They both ran Cameron's program. He was well aware that Cameron thought that she became Skynet in the future. He briefly wondered if she actually became SkyMaster. He didn't think he should mention that to John at this time. He didn't want anybody else to hear what he had to say if he did say it. He knew that CamNet heard everything, even if they thought that she didn't.

"Yes. We suspected this before." John Henry said. "We need to find out when. I think it's very important that we establish the timeline that they're from."

John couldn't help but think all the faults of Skynet or any of its illegitimate offshoots were the result of men. Men were the ones who created and built it. Men were the ones who programmed it. Men were the ones who unleashed it on the world. It sounded like men resurrected some version of Skynet long after it was destroyed.

"When mankind forgot what Skynet did to the world, they built another version of it." John said. "It doesn't really matter the year. It appears a machine ended up as a 'god', even if it was a false god. Maybe someone else other than man resurrected Skynet – SkyMaster."

John Henry caught the drift of John's statement. It wasn't too hard to put it all together.

"It could have been Terminators, like our group or other Terminators working for the Resistance in the future that built it. It could be a different future too." John Henry said. "They may have determined the illogic of mankind or were being persecuted for being 'different'. They may have rebuilt it to protect themselves from humans."

There was a sick feeling in the back of John's mind after he finished his statement. He didn't want to say what it was. He wasn't even sure what it was. He had a pretty good idea though. John Henry seemed to reinforce what he'd been thinking. It wasn't a good thought.

"I was afraid you were going to say that." John said.

John and John Henry both wondered if Cameron was 'SkyMaster'. Neither wanted to even say it, maybe it was CamNet. They needed to think about the Duplicate versions of Cameron as well as all of her clones. They all ran her program. They also knew that Cameron's beauty captivated everyone who dealt with her. That included humans and machines. Maybe she was like a 'god' in the future. All she would need was a supply of power cells.

Ally was alongside the building. She was ready to attempt to infiltrate. She wanted all the assistance she could get. She didn't know what was inside other than an HK Track that was active. The fact that there were security cameras on the south side of the building bothered her. She didn't want to get detected before she could get inside the building.

"Can John Henry loop their security cameras?" Ally asked. "If he can, I might be able to slip inside. There's a door that doesn't look like it's closed tightly. It's the second one from the west side."

Al knew right away which door she referred to. He'd just seen it used a few minutes ago.

"That's the door the two men used who left in the box truck." Al said. "I can see Steve again. He's at the east side of the building. He's trying the sliding doors on the side of the building that the railcars can be spotted in front of. I didn't see them move at all."

Steve followed the drainage ditch next to the spur track. He was right up to the first big door in the side of the building.

He'd checked for any security cameras on the side he was on. There was nothing for him to spot.

He carefully stood and tried to move the first big door. It was securely locked. He quickly hurried to the next door and tried it. It too was locked.

They could breach the building from this spot but it was going to cause a lot of noise and alert everyone inside as to where they were at. It looked like they were going to need another option. Or they could attempt to enter from multiple openings. That would most certainly divide the enemy's fire. The fact that Ally reported an HK Track seemed like it was going to be a problem.

Cameron opened the back door of the box truck and there were two HK Tracks in the back of it.

They both appeared to be inactive. Cameron and Cammy hopped up in the back of the truck to deactivate them before they activated on their own. That was about the last thing they needed right now.

Savannah went to check on Gail and the two men that she'd slammed together.

"I think I may have been too forceful." Gail said. "I didn't like the way they touched me. I felt violated. The Gray even slobbered on me while he was doing it. It was a very unpleasant experience. I can't even imagine what Jesse and Vanna must have gone through. It is very unpleasant to have anyone touch you that you don't want to touch you."

Gail thought that she should go to the future that Jesse and Vanna were from and protect them as girls before any of this ever happened to them. She would need to speak to Cameron privately. She understood it would create a new timeline but she didn't want Jesse and Vanna to have to suffer.

The men both looked dead to Savannah.

"Are they both terminated?" Savannah asked.

Gail needed to refocus. Her earlier thoughts were very prevalent in her mind right now.

"Yes." Gail said. "I'm sorry."

Savannah reached out and gently touched Gail's cheek.

"There is nothing to be sorry about." Savannah said. "They were the enemy. We won and they lost. I'm sorry that you needed to experience that."

The down side was that they wouldn't be able to question the Grays on what was inside the warehouse and what their strength was. They were aware there was at least one HK Track active. If there were Terminators inside, that would make a difference too.

Frank and Dan searched the Grays and then tossed them down into the ravine to join the fanatical Gray. They picked up the phones from the ground where the Grays dropped them.

"I don't think one of these is going to work." Frank said. "We can still glean information from it."

The phone that still worked started to ring.

Cameron ran to the back of the truck.

"Dan, you heard their voices." Cameron said. "If it's the warehouse, tell them you're getting a flat tire and don't want to get stuck out on the road. Tell them you're coming back to fix it."

Dan would see what he could do.

"Hello." Dan said as he used the voice of one of the dead Grays.

There was a slight pause before anyone responded.

"Smitty?" The voice asked. "Where's Tito? Why are you stopped?"

Dan went with the story that Cameron laid out. He embellished it a little to make it sound good. He would be able to use the voice of the second Gray as well if they wanted to speak to him for some reason.

"Tito is taking a leak. He said we're getting a flat tire. It's hissing air from the tread. We must've run over a screw or a nail or something. I think we should come back before we get stuck on the road." Dan said as he used 'Smitty's voice'. "I'm out of the truck now. I can hear the air hissing out of a small puncture."

There was a delayed pause again before anyone spoke.

"The Man isn't going to like it." The voice said.

Dan wanted to sound logical as well as disgusted.

"Does he want to come out here in the dark and change it?" Dan asked.

The response this time was immediate.

"You know he's in Reno." The voice said.

Dan wanted to play it up a little bit but not too much. He wanted to pick the parking spot where they would go back to. He gave a plausible explanation as to why. He decided to use the information Sheila found out.

"You know what I mean. We all know that the Man doesn't like anything. At least it seems like it. We're coming back. We haven't actually gone that far. It should only be a few minutes." Dan said. "We'll park in the same spot we were in. I think the truck is overloaded anyway to try and change the tire. We should unload it so we can change the tire easier and it will be safer for us."

There was a slight pause before the voice responded.

"Whatever, dude." The voice said. "It's your funeral, not mine."

Dan still felt there was some hesitancy for them to return back to the warehouse. He wanted to give a few reasons why it was the logical choice.

"Look, we don't want to get stuck along the road and have some LEO hassle us. You know we boosted this truck three weeks ago. It's hot. We'll be back there in a few minutes." Dan said. "Open the door so we can unload. The quicker we change the tire, the quicker we can get back on schedule. Don't turn this into a major production because it isn't. It's a flat tire. Get over it."

The call ended without any further words being spoken.

Cameron listened to the phone call in its entirety. That included the unusually long pauses between some of the responses. They gave her a little bit of worry but she couldn't place it.

"Cammy, let's reprogram these two HK Tracks as we drive. We have ten minutes." Cameron said. "Dan, Frank and Savannah will ride in the cab. Gail and Sheila will join us in the back."

It was clear to everyone there what Cameron planned to do.

It was clear to John and John Henry in the casino Command Center as well. It sounded like a bad idea to him.

John hoped to be able to take some preemptive action ahead of their arrival. He knew it was a risk but he hoped to be able to give the girls a 'heads up' before the truck arrived with them in the back of it.

"Cameron is going in." John said. "Can we get Ally or Steve inside the building ahead of them?"

John Henry thought that sounded like a risk. He'd already started to work on the surveillance equipment.

"I'm working on their security systems now." John Henry said. "I need to be careful if a 'Skynet' is involved in some way as well."

John began to have second thoughts about Cameron's proposal. It just didn't sit well with him.

"Cameron…." John started.

Cameron figured since they had control of two HK Tracks that they might as well use them to their advantage. They would draft them to their team.

"Save it John, it's happening." Cameron said. "The two HK Tracks are going to go into the building blazing. We'll follow them inside."

John did feel a little more confident to know that there would be two HK Tracks that preceded them. He thought maybe they might be able to pull it off since the truck would be able to back right up to the dock. There were still a lot of unknowns involved with it.

"That's a classic Trojan Horse move." John said. "The difference is, you still don't know what you're facing inside. I believe Savannah pointed this out earlier."

Cameron was immediately turned off by John's negativity. She didn't need to hear any second guessing from him. She really wondered if he ever thought about why she went on so many of her missions alone. Maybe she should do that here. In fact that's what she was going to do.

"I can go in on my own then." Cameron said. "Everyone else can stand down. I'll take care of this. It won't take me long."

John looked over at John Henry. He felt this was more of a domestic dispute rather than an operational one. Nonetheless it was still a dispute.

"I can't allow that." John said.

Cameron really didn't see what John could do but interfere as he sat in the Honeymoon Suite of the casino hotel. She was the one on the ground. She wasn't the 'Chairborne Ranger'.

"You can't stop me." Cameron said. "I'm here and you're not."

John could see that he had no control over Cameron. He certainly hoped that he wasn't the only one who'd heard this conversation.

"No. I can't." John said. "Only the voice of reason can."

John Henry could tell he was almost into the security system at the warehouse.

"I'm working on the security cameras. I'm close." John Henry said. "I'm in. I have their signal now."

Cameron hoped they'd be able to give them some additional intelligence. It didn't really matter at this point. Her mind was made up.

"Keep me posted." Cameron said. "I'm going in as soon as we arrive, one way or another."

Savannah thought the operation started to progress too fast without any planning. They didn't have enough information. There were too many variables.

"Cameron, we need to know more before we go in." Savannah said. "There could have been a code word or even the names could have been fake. This all could be a trigger for a trap."

Cameron thought about it, she wanted to move ahead anyway.

"Maybe." Cameron said. "It will all work out."

Savannah wanted to point out some of the negative things they could face if it turned into an ambush.

"What if they have HK Treads in there?" Savannah asked.

Cameron frowned slightly. Everything seemed so simple a few moments ago. Now there were a lot of problems.

"I don't know." Cameron said. "What you're saying all makes sense. It's my Terminator impulse to move forward and act."

Savannah thought they needed better intelligence. They had operatives on the ground. They were right at the building. They might be able to come up with something to help them before they arrived. If they could tell them there was an ambush being set up that would protect them to call off the original form of entry.

"It's my survival instinct to think things through." Savannah said. "If Ally or Steve can get a look inside first it would be a great asset. Even the specific spots our drones can target inside the building through the roof or walls if we need to."

Cameron understood that the voice of reason was Savannah. Everything that she said was correct.

"OK, Savannah, you made your point." Cameron said. "We need more intel first. Thank you."

Savannah wanted to point out that they could also get lucky. It was doubtful but it was a possibility.

"It could also be as easy as you think." Savannah said.

Cameron knew she needed to think things through a little bit better. There must be a few more options they could use to help themselves.

"I know you're looking out for me and all of us." Cameron said.

Cameron felt she needed to listen to Savannah's advice, even if she wanted to act now.

No One

Everyone else has someone
Someone to help them
Someone to prop them up
Someone to save them

There's NO ONE for me
NO ONE to care
NO ONE to listen
NO ONE to share

When they flounder
When they fail
I'm the one relied on
Their sinking ship I must bail

How can everyone take and take
How can everyone use and use
Who's ever there for me
I never win but always lose

I get it, I really do
I don't matter
I'm disposable
No one cares what they shatter

They all must laugh
At such a stupid fool
Not really a person
Just an expendable tool

Nobody