Chapter 1014

Who Was That

Savannah felt comfortable now as she explored more of the B-25 Mitchell's capabilities. It was all about the feel to her and the response of the controls. She could become 'one' with the aircraft.

She noticed Cameron looked at her phone and then called Anna over from the top turret.

Savannah couldn't hear what was being said. She hoped they weren't planning any surprises for her. Cameron didn't like surprises but she liked to give them.

She glanced back as Anna moved away from Cameron. She didn't have a good feeling. It seemed that something was up or off in some way. Cameron didn't raise any alarm and she didn't have any alerts on her phone from John Henry or CamNet, yet.

Savannah looked back now to see what Anna was doing. She was doing something behind them.

Cameron didn't want Savannah to be alarmed or to worry. She decided to deflect Savannah's attention.

"I see the park by the Resistance base coming up." Cameron said.

Savannah noted earlier that the heading that Cameron gave her would take them by the Resistance base.

"I see it." Savannah said. "We're a few miles out.

Cameron was aware that some of the team was currently at the park.

"Sarah and Claire are there with Jan and Summer." Cameron said. "They're down below us now."

Savannah looked but the details weren't clear at her altitude.

"Can you make them out?" Savannah asked.

Savannah wagged the wings a little. She wanted them to notice even if they didn't know it was them passing overhead.

Young Allison heard the conversation between Savannah and Cameron. She looked down at the park as well.

"I can see the figures." Young Allison said. "I can't see them clearly."

Anna came back up to speak to Cameron.

Savannah really wondered about what was happening.

Anna disappeared again. It looked like she was going into the nose this time.

A few seconds later Young Allison was in back of them.

"I want Allison to check out the top turret for now." Cameron said.

Young Allison plugged back into the com system. She looked around where she was at. The ammunition for the cheek guns was loaded.

"Why is there live ordnance loaded now?" Young Allison asked. "Is that why you wanted me to move?"

Cameron looked back to where Anna worked a few minutes ago.

"We're going to do some live fire exercises when we get out past Catalina Island." Cameron said. "The projectiles will pass on either side of the nose."

Cameron wanted to make sure everyone was as safe as possible.

Savannah looked in back of her.

"Are both gun packs on the cheeks hot?" Savannah asked.

"They are." Cameron said. "That's what Anna did earlier."

The prospect of live fire excited Young Allison.

"This is so cool." Young Allison said.

Savannah wondered what it was going to be like. The barrels were below the sides of the cockpit. She figured it was going to be loud.

Hanna, Sarah, Claire and the girls all looked up. The plane was loud and anyone who was on the ground would look up.

"I'm pretty sure that plane moved its wings back and forth." Claire said.

Hanna clearly saw it do that.

"It did." Hanna said.

Hanna received information from CamNet. She wasn't going to share it with Claire and Sarah at this time. She was sure it would cause a problem later on.

Summer stood on the swing seat now. She held the two chains as she looked up.

The B-25 flew past them.

Claire looked down from the sky and noticed how Summer stood in the swing seat.

"Don't stand like that, honey." Claire said. "I want you to be safe."

Jan and Summer looked at Claire.

"It's never safe." They both said at the same time.

Claire and Sarah looked at each other.

Sarah remembered when she used to drill that into John's head. She also said it in front of Cameron and then heard Cameron repeat it. Obviously Cameron passed that on to the girls at some point. She'd always told Jan that but she wasn't sure who told Summer. She didn't think it really mattered. The safety of the girls is what should always come first.

She watched the plane as it flew into the distance. She didn't know if it was just her perspective but she thought that it might have dropped in altitude. She turned her attention back to Jan and Summer.

Sarah wondered about the future. She knew that no one was safe and she'd learned that females were especially unsafe after Judgment Day. She understood that Cameron wanted to 'age' Young Allison in the past. She didn't agree with that idea at all. In fact, she thought it was a bad idea. She also worried about what would happen to the younger girls in a Skynet future if they ended up alone. It wasn't a pleasant thought. Vanna and Jesse both shared stories with her of what it was like to be a young girl in the Wastelands. It didn't matter where the Wastelands were. There were Wastelands around every major city in the world. Skynet wasn't selective in who it killed.

She looked in the direction that the plane had gone. There was no sign of it now.

Derek looked behind them. The two sedans were in back of them again.

"It looks like they took the bait." Derek said.

John was still a little unsure about using Derek as live bait.

"Use caution." John said. "Don't run but don't let them get too close."

Derek spotted the mock roadblock up ahead. It was set up to keep other cars out of the canyon and off the canyon road. He was notified it had been in place for a while. There'd been plenty of time since the two sedans tried to lure him into an ambush. He was informed that the canyon road had been blocked for fifteen minutes already on both sides. Any vehicles that were traversing it should be well out of the way before they entered it.

Derek passed through the cones that were moved for them to take the canyon road entrance. The two sedans followed as well. They seemed none the wiser. The Resistance tail car followed a minute later. The street was blocked off again.

There were only four vehicles on the canyon road now. Both sides of it were blocked.

Because the Syndicate thugs tried to set up an ambush for Derek's team, they'd allowed the Resistance time to perfect their own ambush.

Only those in the Resistance would leave that canyon alive.

Cameron looked back and checked everything.

Anna previously followed Young Allison out of the nose and retrieved the other items they would need.

"We're going to armor up and switch places when we do." Cameron said. "Anna is going to take my place here for a few minutes."

Savannah and Young Allison looked at each other when Cameron said they were going to armor up. They thought it was precautionary for the live fire mission that they were going to conduct somewhere out in the ocean.

Cameron unbuckled and prepared to switch with Anna.

Anna now took Cameron's place as she exited from the copilot's seat.

As soon as Anna was seated, Cameron motioned for Savannah to get up.

Savannah looked over at Anna.

"You got it?" Savannah asked.

Anna quickly checked over the instruments and nodded.

"I got it." Anna said.

Cameron now wore her body armor and handed Savannah hers.

Cameron climbed into the pilot's seat and took control from Anna after she strapped in.

Savannah put her body armor on and Anna got up from the copilot's seat.

Cameron was informed the Syndicate thugs took the bait. The practice mission for Savannah would need to be later. She was about to witness the real thing. The mission was now going to live fire by the B-25.

Savannah could see there was a lot of communication between Cameron and CamNet. So far she wasn't privy to the conversation. It was clear something was up. She could tell that Cameron was a little tenser than she'd been earlier. She didn't see any sign of a glitch and that was a good thing. She figured Cameron would tell her as soon as she was ready. There was no need to agitate her further by prompting her for an answer.

Cameron could see that Savannah anticipated something was different. It looked like the mission was on. She wanted to let her know what was about to happen. She decided to spell it out for Savannah.

Savannah sat down and strapped in. Anna checked her over. She plugged her headset in. She looked around and didn't see Young Allison. She wasn't sure if she had gone back into the nose or not. She doubted that. She wanted to make sure where everyone was at.

"Where's Allison?" Savannah asked.

"Allison is in the aft fuselage." Cameron said. "The mission is going hot. Derek's team is being tailed by two car loads of Syndicate thugs. We're going to neutralize the threat."

Savannah heard what Cameron said. It took a few seconds for it to sink in. She could see Cameron wasn't joking.

Cameron was about to take the B-25 into combat. She thought about the eight gun nose that sat on the floor in the Resistance hanger. It wasn't finished yet. She would have to make sure that that got taken care of as soon as possible. She currently had four forward firing .50 caliber machine guns. With the eight gun nose on the plane it would give her a total of twelve forward firing .50 caliber machine guns. That would be quite a punch on any target. Four .50 caliber machine guns would still do quite a number. She wanted to make sure that Savannah understood exactly what was about to happen.

"I'm going to push the plane to its fullest performance levels." Cameron said. "Watch me and I will narrate as I do everything. This is a live fire mission. I will need to tax the engines and airframe. This will be necessary because of the canyon we'll be in."

Cameron continued to fill Savannah in with all of the details that she knew. There actually weren't that many. The bottom line was that Derek was in a jam and they were going to get him out of it.

Savannah felt the Mitchell pick up speed as Cameron firewalled the throttles. It sent a surge of adrenaline through her body. She went over all the information she knew about a ground attack mission with the B-25.

"Now this is flying." Savannah said.

Savannah glanced over at Cameron's face. It now displayed the blank Terminator look. She didn't see Cameron with that look on her face much anymore. Maybe the only female Terminator that still had that look most of the time was Gail. That was changing. She worked to help it change. She needed to remember Cameron was a machine constructed to kill. That's what she was about to do. It was clear Cameron was in her natural element. She was now a minister of death.

Earlier:

Anna asked Young Allison to move into the aft fuselage.

Young Allison sensed the change in atmosphere right away. She could tell there was more going on then she knew. She wanted to know what was up.

"What's happening?" Young Allison asked. "I want the whole story."

Anna was used to working with Young Allison in the Young bunker. There weren't many secrets between them as they worked together. She didn't think there should be any difference now. She gave it to her straight.

'"The mission is going hot with live fire." Anna said. "Derek's team is being threatened by the Syndicate."

The mention of the Syndicate again irritated Young Allison. She made the decision to have her plan enacted by CamNet. Her plan had only partially been put into effect. Anna had urged her to use restraint. With the latest incursion by the Syndicate against Resistance forces it was time to act.

"That's it for them, the Syndicate I mean." Young Allison said. "I'm having CamNet cripple them globally."

Anna thought Young Allison should confer with Cameron and Savannah. They should mention it to John too. She was unaware that John was ready to take further action against the Syndicate once John Henry came up with a workable plan.

"You still need to confer with Savannah and Cameron." Anna said.

Young Allison already made up her mind. She would inform them of what she was going to do but she was going to do it anyway. It would take some strong convincing for her not to follow through with her plan.

"I'm wiping them out." Young Allison said. "I've already notified Cameron. I'll wait until I tell Savannah but I'm going to clean them out. I'm going to have CamNet act. I'm going to have her bring the full effort of the future down on the Syndicate now."

Young Allison paused for a second before she moved to the aft fuselage at Anna's urging. She looked at Savannah and Cameron. Her mind was made up. She went over the crawl way across the top of the bomb bay.

Steve was waiting for Young Allison.

He handed her some body armor. She put it on.

Steve motioned to a seat.

"You will sit on this seat. It is armored." Steve said.

Young Allison looked at the seat and Tom sat in it. She wondered if Steve was joking or not. It was clear by the look on his face that he wasn't. She thought Tom was what Steve meant about the seat being 'armored'. She wanted to make sure that she understood everything clearly.

"Am I going to sit on Tom's lap?" Young Allison asked.

Steve thought it was a good idea. He knew that a Terminator chassis was very durable.

"Yes." Steve said. "You will be better protected."

Young Allison thought she would liven the mood some.

"He's not going to 'cop a feel' is he?" Young Allison asked with a smile.

Steve and Tom looked at each other.

"It was a joke." Young Allison said. "Besides, there's not much to feel."

Young Allison wouldn't mind if that happened. She just didn't think it would have the same effect as if it was a human male or even better, a human female. She checked her phone for any updates and to be able to view the drone footage. She was sure it was the Syndicate that currently tailed Derek's team. She tried to think of any other ways that she could make the Syndicate suffer as it was punished. Everyone said there was a 'mean streak' in her. She wasn't really sure if she agreed with that definition. She did have a strong sense of justice and retribution. She wondered if they were one in the same.

Steve got Young Allison seated with her body armor on and strapped in on Tom's lap.

John Henry received confirmation from CamNet about what he thought would transpire. He figured it was time to notify John. He wasn't so sure if he should come out with all of the details yet. The attack by Cameron in the B-25 was something that was arranged through CamNet. He thought maybe he should just leave it at that. It was CamNet's attack on the two sedans at this point. Cameron and the B-25 were just the tools.

"I've been informed by CamNet that the strike on the two sedans will happen shortly." John Henry said.

John made a quick check of where things were for the Resistance. He wondered if they were going to use a missile strike after all. Neither drone had dropped into gun range yet.

"Both drones are still at altitude." John said.

John Henry was a little worried about what he would need to reveal next. He figured it would be bad enough when John found out Cameron was the pilot of the B-25. He figured it was going to get a lot worse when John found out that Savannah was the copilot and Young Allison was on board as well.

"There's another option that's become available." John Henry said.

John wasn't sure what that option was. He did note the convoy of four vehicles was near the area where the sedans were supposed to be staged after they were disabled and the occupants terminated.

"It looks like it needs to be soon." John said.

John Henry wanted to be able to give Cameron the best targeting information that was available. For the optimum initial attack, everything would need to be timed just right.

"I need to calculate the speed and the location of where Derek's vehicle will be and the air speed of the aircraft. I need to get the timing right." John Henry said.

John was a little confused as to what exactly John Henry meant or referred to. He began to wonder if there was something they hadn't told him. In a crucial operation like this, if there was something they hadn't told him, there was probably a pretty good reason why. It was doubtful that reason would be a good reason.

"I need to know exactly what's happening or about to happen." John said.

Savannah watched Cameron as she pushed the Mitchell.

"You're really a master at this." Savannah said.

Cameron felt it was more because of her natural Terminator ability. She knew the timing was of the essence. She didn't want to arrive at the specific location too early or too late. There were several reasons why she needed to attack the target in a certain area.

"I'm coordinating our position and speed with the location and speed of Derek's vehicle." Cameron said. "John Henry wants me to strike at a specific point on the canyon road."

Cameron went over the arming and firing procedure with the four guns. They then went over the aiming procedure.

It seemed to Savannah this wasn't the first time that Cameron did live fire on a moving target.

"Have you done this before?" Savannah asked.

Cameron quickly glanced over at Savannah. She didn't want to get too specific with her answer. The main focus right now was on protecting Derek's team and taking down the enemy.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I would like to have talked you through it but Derek is out there with his team and I want to do this in one pass. I'll teach you to do it afterwards over the ocean as we'd planned earlier."

Anna popped up in back and between them. She gave Cameron a 'thumbs up'.

"Anna has all four guns ready. She will resupply the ammunition if necessary or clear any jams, both events are unlikely to occur." Cameron said.

Savannah didn't expect any return fire since the attack should be a surprise. She wanted to verify that Young Allison was as secure as she could be.

"I want to make sure Young Allison is as safe as possible." Savannah said.

Anna personally checked before she returned to the cockpit area.

"Young Allison is secured and protected with body armor and two Terminators in the aft fuselage." Anna said.

Cameron dipped the nose and dropped the altitude.

"It is important that in attacking a ground target that you don't get 'target fixation' and fail to pull up in time." Cameron said. "Many pilots have flown into the ground that way."

The B-25 entered into a sharp bank and leveled out.

Cameron spotted everything right where it was supposed to be. The timing was perfect. John Henry had done an excellent job in coordinating everything.

"I see my targets ahead, they're approaching us." Cameron said. "I'll be firing at targets in back of Derek's truck, away from him. The projectiles will pass over him."

This was all happening fast.

Savannah finally saw the targets approaching. It was all going to happen very soon.

Cameron continued her narration of everything she needed to do.

Savannah could tell she was going to need to practice before she could attempt anything like this. She could only imagine what it was like for pilots to face the enemy. There would be return fire directed at their aircraft. The enemy would try to kill them as much as they tried to kill the enemy. It was an unsettling thought but a reality of combat. It wasn't much different than when troops faced each other on the ground but this all happened at a much more rapid pace.

John Henry gave Derek very specific instructions.

Derek understood what he was supposed to do. As far as his part it seemed simple enough.

"OK, I'm going to floor it as soon as I come out of the next turn." Derek said.

"Yes." John Henry said. "Stay on the gas and drive right on through. The aircraft will approach directly in front of you. It will fire over you and shoot into the targets behind you. Don't slow until the aircraft passes over you."

Derek was aware how devastating a low level drone attack could be. At least he thought that is what this was going to be. He wanted to make sure.

"Will it be a drone?" Derek asked.

John Henry wanted Derek to have all of the facts since he was on the ground. He didn't want him to be too surprised when the B-25 suddenly appeared over him. There wouldn't be much warning for him. He didn't want him to lose control of his vehicle at the sight of the Mitchell only yards above him.

"No. It's a manned aircraft." John Henry said.

John looked over at John Henry. He was a little surprised. This was his first indication that it wouldn't be a drone attack. He understood now why the drones were still at altitude.

"Don't tell me…." John said.

John Henry learned that when John said that he actually wanted to know. It was time to come clean. He hadn't actually known very long himself either.

"Cameron's flying." John Henry said. "I only found out a short time ago what was going to happen."

The video footage from one of the drones widened to show the B-25 approaching.

John now began to wonder about all the timing on this. He didn't see how any of this could have been planned ahead from the way things played out and currently happened.

"Was this planned in any way?" John asked.

He knew it was the plane he saw in the hanger at the airport. This now sounded like a stunt that Cameron would pull or orchestrate.

John Henry could tell what John was thinking. He wanted to clarify things as well as he knew them. Cameron wasn't gambling with anyone's life. The way things worked out, the two Syndicate sedans were a target of opportunity for Cameron.

"No, it wasn't." John Henry said. "Derek wasn't used as bait."

"I didn't mean it like that." John said. "Tell Derek what to expect so he is not distracted or surprised. Make sure he knows what you want him to do."

John didn't want any 'foul ups' on this one.

John Henry thought that he'd already done that. He repeated everything again to clarify what exactly would happen.

Derek checked the rear view mirror. The sedans were starting to close. The tail car dropped out of sight. John Henry told him it would.

He came out of the corner already on the gas pedal. He saw a nice straight section ahead of him as he kept the pedal to the metal. The truck shot ahead on the straight section of the canyon road.

He glanced in the rear view mirror again and saw the two sedans were way behind him. When he looked back to the front, he saw the plane ahead of him in a shallow dive. It seemed to appear from nowhere.

It was a scene he'd experienced before in his past - the future.

John Henry told him what to expect specifically. He was more than surprised to hear that. He was still apprehensive about the two sedans of thugs behind him but he was elated but the way the attack would be carried out.

He would pass under the B-25 in a few seconds. He watched as flames appeared on each side of the fuselage. The thunderous roar of the engines increased, the bark of the four 'fifties' could be heard. There was a whiff of dark gray smoke.

The B-25 passed over him. It shook the truck. He looked back in the rear view mirror and saw the rounds tear into and shred the two sedans. He saw some gray smoke as the engines went back to full power and the B-25 climbed out of the canyon.

John Henry watched zoomed images from one of the drones of the two sedans. It was clear that the attack was carried out with precision and that it was deadly.

"Both targets have been neutralized." John Henry reported.

Derek was more than impressed. Whatever apprehension he held about being followed by the Syndicate thugs was replaced with the excitement of what he'd just witnessed.

"Who was that?" Derek asked.

John looked over at John Henry and decided to answer the question himself.

"Cameron." John said.

Who Was That

Some get confused
They soon lose their way
It makes them vulnerable
To be led astray

Some will stand firm
They'll do what's right
If it's necessary
They'll stay and fight

That's not the case
In most relationships
To avoid the apocalypse
They'd rather cash in their chips

Maybe it's best to expect nothing
Then there's nothing to disappoint
There won't be a throne
Or anyone to anoint

Try not to fall flat
Or become a doormat
One needs to be noticed
So they ask, who was that

Nobody