Chapter 557

Scratch Five

Earlier:

Savannah helped Gail collect the weapons from the immediate area where they were at. She spotted Gail's Taser. She paused what she was doing and picked it up. She went over to Gail.

"I'm going to take your Taser." Savannah said. "It's mine now."

Savannah held her Taser with the two fired charges in her other hand.

"This is your Taser." Savannah said. "It's the Taser which the incapacitated the two Skynet Terminators."

Gail took the fired Taser from Savannah. If anyone looked at her Taser, they would notice it was fired twice. It was what would have been required to bring down the two Terminators she fought with. It looked like she was going to say something.

Savannah knew how things could bother Terminators, forever.

"It's your Taser now." Savannah said. "You're the one who deactivated the two Terminators. You pulled their chips."

It was clear Savannah removed her involvement from what occurred both physically and verbally.

Gail was at a loss for words. Savannah was the greatest.

"Thank you." Gail said. "If anyone presses the issue…."

Savannah wanted to stick with the facts of the story.

"You're the one who fought the Terminators, and you're the one who deactivated them." Savannah said. "It's my story from now on until forever. It's what happened."

Gail tilted her head slightly. Savannah was correct. There were a few details which were left out of her statement. She could hear the SUV in the distance coming. She realized the overlooked details didn't matter. Everything Savannah did and would continue to do is what mattered. Savannah personally looked after her. She felt the 'electric' feeling inside of her again.

Jesse went down the narrow trail with the SUV. The trail was clearly not big enough for the SUV to go down it smoothly. Bushes scraped along the sides of it. She figured the paint job was already trashed. She spotted Gail and Savannah up ahead. She arrived with the SUV intact, even if it was dented and scratched. She kept her downhill speed controlled as Savannah requested. She was glad she did. There were a few steep drop offs. She knew if she allowed the SUV to be damaged, they were going to need to walk out from where they were.

Savannah and Gail tried to get everything ready to go. They were going to take the two deactivated Terminators with them and the weapons they collected from the immediate area.

Jesse stopped the SUV next to them. She left it running but set the parking brake. She was worried if she damaged anything in the under frame, it might not restart. Even if they lost the oil or coolant from the engine, it would still perform for a short while before it seized up from excessive heat. Gail exchanged a quick hug with her.

Gail loaded the two deactivated Terminators in the back of the SUV.

Jesse and Savannah finished collecting a few additional weapons.

Gail tried to avoid Jesse somewhat. She was a little concerned about her appearance.

Jesse could see Gail was banged up. They weren't just bruises either.

"You're hurt, love." Jesse said to Gail.

Gail felt a little ashamed. She was defeated and was about to be terminated when Savannah saved her. She also knew Savannah wanted to 'protect' her. She wanted Jesse to know the truth.

"Not as bad as I would have been." Gail said as she looked at Savannah. "She sav..."

Savannah didn't want to take anything away from Gail, especially in front of Jesse. She didn't see it as a big deal. She only did what anyone would have done. She wanted to 'protect' Gail now as well. She wanted to make sure Gail received the credit, not her.

"It was nothing." Savannah quickly interrupted. "Gail was the one who deactivated them. I saw her do it. I watched her remove the chips from both of them. She did an outstanding job. I know she's going to feel a little self conscious about the damage she received. It's nothing to dwell on. We need to get down to the base right now."

Gail looked at Savannah who winked at her. She understood why Savannah asked her to pull their chips. She was the one who deactivated them. She wasn't the one who brought them down. She felt another 'surge' inside of her for Savannah. Maybe it was something she suppressed for a long time. She knew Savannah was 'off limits' because of Cameron's plans for her. She could no longer contain it now.

They heard the activity at the base went hot over their coms. There were some fireballs and explosions in the distance in case they possessed any doubts. Seeing was believing in this case.

Savannah could see Jesse was worried about Gail. She wanted them to be together. She liked to be with Cameron or Cammy after a battle. This one was far from over based on the sounds in the distance. There was a lot of minigun fire punctuated by the explosions.

"Jesse, you can tend to Gail." Savannah said. "I'll drive. There's a good chance we're going to see combat once we get near the base."

Jesse and Gail got into the rear seat. It would be an easier spot to look Gail over.

Savannah got behind the wheel of the SUV. She continued down the trail in the vehicle.

Jesse worked on Gail. It was mostly cosmetic damage. It was clear it was a vicious fight. She was very proud Gail deactivated two male Terminators.

Gail pointed out the locations of the three Grays she took out.

Savannah stopped. Gail was going to go out, but Jesse did instead.

Jesse retrieved their weapons and munitions. They continued toward the fight….

Gail was very pleased by the way the girls treated her. She understood better why Cameron liked to have Savannah at her side. It was very comforting with all the support and assistance she could render. She watched the videos of Savannah in action. It was clear she saved Cameron on multiple occasions. The only reason they knew about it was because Cameron wanted them to know. Savannah never said anything about it or her part in anything she did to help Cameron. She understood she would do the same thing for her.

She looked over where the battle broke out. She would do her best to make sure both Jesse and Savannah were protected by her. It wouldn't matter what the threat was.

Cameron knew she needed to face multiple threats. She was near Bob now with 'Painless', his minigun.

The new threat was the HK Tracks which moved alongside of her. Now she needed to face three threats. The HK Tracks, HK drones and the Grays and Terminators coming out of the burning hangar.

Cameron heard the clanking noise get closer to her.

The clanking stopped. A burst of minigun fire from one of the HK Tracks took down the fourth HK drone which left the burning hangar. The fourth HK drone joined its other two brethren on the runway as a flaming wreck. Another HK Track engaged the targets as they came out of the hangar.

Bob and Cameron briefly looked at each other. It appeared they picked up a couple of allies.

Cameron quickly deduced the two HK Tracks which followed her were reprogrammed to assist them. She knew Cammy must have done it. The HK Tracks would think she was Cammy. They followed her like watchdogs. They were there to protect her.

Moments ago, Cammy was able to bring three of the HK Tracks into the fight on their side. Cammy hoped everyone from the Resistance wore their vests and squawked the proper transponder code. The HK Tracks would not see them as a threat if they did.

Two more drones flew out of the burning hangar. Bob took one down with 'Painless'. One of the HK Tracks flamed the other one.

The old runway started to acquire quite a collection of downed HK drones on it. There was plenty of light from the fires burning in front and in back of them.

Cameron and Bob headed toward the burning hangar. Cameron told the closest HK Track to go with Bob. It was its new assignment. The other one would accompany her. An HK Track rumbled behind each of them. The HK Tracks backed them both up…. They both could deliver more firepower on the enemy. They could also use the HK Tracks for cover if it was necessary.

The front of the hangar was now a raging inferno. They could hear more HK drones inside powering up. It was doubtful they would fly out the open hanger door at this point. It was burning, with explosions happening as well.

The roof of the hangar was blown open from the inside by an HK drone. It flew out, followed by another one.

Cameron figured they would blow a wall open, but it was the roof instead. It appeared they wanted to avoid the opposition from the ground which they could hear outside. Even with the new tactic, they didn't get very far.

Cam arrived seconds later. She was a little surprised to see the roof blow open and two drones emerge. She fired on them as soon as they cleared the roof. Two missiles streaked across the sky and the two HK drones went down. They crashed back into the burning hangar. She made sure her transponder was on in the manned drone. She looked for any additional threats.

"Where do you want it?" Cam asked.

It was an easy one for Cameron. She knew there were more HK drones ready to take off inside the burning hangar. There were more Grays and Terminators there as well.

"Put it on the central hangar. Skynet has it now, not us." Cameron said. "Use everything."

Cameron saw the central hangar as the biggest threat. Everything was deactivated in the hangar with the big rigs full of HK drones. She still hoped to be able to take all of those with them. It's if they all survived the current firefight. So far they were able to stay on top.

Right now there were a lot of unknowns. Communications were blocked so none of the Skynet forces should have been able to get a message out. It didn't mean they might not have some way to do it. They could alert the two assembly buildings, or call for help from additional locations. Even if it looked like they were holding Skynet in check, it was unknown how much longer they would be able to do so. Their forces were very limited, and the enemy strength was unknown.

As far as they knew there could be another Skynet facility with in visual range. Someone might notice the glow on the horizon from the burning hangar and deduce the base was being attacked, especially if they couldn't reach anyone.

John Henry redirected the course of the Blackhawk some. He would send it directly over Ally and Sheila. He informed Ally the Blackhawk rapidly approached their location. He suggested one of them could join with the team on the Blackhawk. He viewed the images Cameron sent of the interior of the first hangar. They would need all the drivers they could get.

Ally drove the big rig at a fast pace. She wanted to get away from the fireworks which would soon start at the factory they left. They were headed in the opposite direction from where the attack at the old helicopter base was at, as the Blackhawk flew towards them. Ally calculated that the Blackhawk would intercept them in a few minutes.

Sheila was still in the back of the big rig trailer. She disconnected the power supply from the all HK drones and proceeded to strip the female Terminator they captured. She really wanted to borrow her chassis and make the rounds with the girls. She did all she could do with a deactivated chassis. She left the 'Metal Bitch' naked. She hoped to give the Metal boys a cheap thrill when they unloaded the big rig. She told the helicopter crew to pick her up.

She told them where she would be.

Ally listened to what Sheila was going to do. She figured it was to one up her after all of the activities they were engaged in earlier. She tried to get Sheila to join her in the cab of the truck several times. Sheila told her she wasn't done yet. She could only imagine what was going on in the darkness of the big rig.

Kyle and Derek were with the 'MIKE Force'.

Derek wanted to clarify where Sheila said to pick her up at.

"Where will you be?" Derek asked.

Sheila didn't see it as a big deal and it would save them some time, even if it was only a minute or so.

"I said I'll be on top of the trailer, love." Sheila said. "Just slow down, open the side door, and I'll hop into the copter."

The pilot told Derek he could see the big rig in the distance.

Derek could see nothing.

"One of our Terminators is at the controls." Derek said. "They have you spotted."

Ally stopped the truck as soon as she saw the Blackhawk. Sheila wanted her to keep going at the same speed. She didn't want to push anyone's luck. The helicopter was coming straight towards her. It flew right above the big rig off to the side a little. She could see the side door was open. Since the truck was stopped, she opened the driver's door and went up on the cab roof so she could make sure there were no problems. There weren't

Sheila leaped over into it, and the Blackhawk was gone in a flash.

Derek was surprised Sheila made the leap. It looked effortless to him.

Sheila smiled at Derek. The 'Jesse' in her showed itself in a non aggressive manner for once. There are many pleasant feelings from the 'Neural Interface' in regards to Derek. She wanted to play with him a little bit in a good way.

"It's just like old times, love." Sheila said.

Sheila sat next to Derek and closed the door on the side.

Derek thought she really did look like Jesse. It stirred a lot of old feelings in him. He needed to remind himself the ship already sailed. He recognized the reality.

"Not exactly…." Derek said.

Sheila smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's close enough, love." Sheila said.

Derek looked at her broad lips with a smile on them. He thought how beautiful she looked. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be with her.

Kyle could see Derek was about to get caught up in the moment. He didn't want things to go too far. He could see the beauty which radiated from Sheila as well. He gave Derek an elbow in the side.

Derek quickly looked over at Kyle. He understood the 'check'. The Metal girls were infiltrators. They used their sexuality to get close to their 'targets'. He needed the reminder. He nodded once at Kyle.

Sheila noticed the interaction between the Reese brothers. She shrugged her shoulders.

Ally got back in the cab of the big rig as soon as Sheila got on the helicopter. She started rolling again and picked up speed. She blew the air horn once as a salute. She watched the helicopter disappear in her rear view mirror. She put the 'pedal to the metal' and tried to put some distance away from the pending trouble.

She knew if hostile HK drones appeared, she was a target.

She purposely hadn't terminated the driver in the beginning. She waited for the driver to regain consciousness to hear his voice. She took his phone. If he was sent a warning, she would receive it now and be able to respond 'all was well'. She snapped his neck and threw his body out over a bridge. Sheila would have wanted to 'work' on him when they got back. Sheila was gone now and so was the deceased driver. She really didn't need to hear him scream as Sheila 'worked' on him.

A few minutes ago:

Cammy made modifications to three of the HK Tracks before she started to disable the rest. She worked with other HK Tracks before. Her most recent endeavor was only a few hours ago when she reprogrammed the HK Tracks in the back of the big rig before she left the facility they were assembled and loaded at. It allowed her to work quickly on them. When she heard Cameron's warning about the middle hangar, she opened the hangar door and the three modified HK Tracks clanked out. Two of them were to find Cameron and the third was to protect the front of her hangar for now. She didn't want any uninvited guests.

She started to modify two more and they soon headed out as well. She made sure the current Resistance transponder code was programmed into all them. Everyone in their group should 'squawk' it. If something didn't transmit their transponder code, it was a target. She already disabled all the other HK Tracks.

Cammy caught up to the last two HK Tracks she sent out. She instructed the one which covered the area of the hangar they exited to remain there for now. She didn't want anyone to enter the hangar. She didn't want any of her 'work' undone. She sent one of the other two to cover the area between the hangers. The central hangar was a raging inferno at this point. She didn't want any surprises.

There were already enough of those so far tonight. The other HK Track followed her. It was now her personal guardian.

Cam saw the explosions as she neared. She watched several HK drones go down. She saw the roof blown open and the two HK drones make a break for it. She immediately targeted them with her two air-to-air missiles. They were still right above the hangar. They were both hit and fell back inside and added to the explosions going on inside of there.

Cameron directed her to hit the central part of the hangar with her air to ground missiles, so she did. She fired them at the quarter and three quarters point over the length of the hangar. It seemed to add further to the destruction going on in the remains of the hangar.

Cam spotted a hole blown open in the rear of the hangar and several figures came out. It looked like they were going to try to mount a counterattack. She took them down with the minigun. One of them was a Terminator, he tried to get up. She hit him again. His power cell exploded. It blew off the entire back of the burning hanger. The shock wave rocked the manned drone violently for a second. She was worried about flying debris since she came in low to get a good shot at the figures.

The massive explosion caused the roof of the hangar to collapse inward. It was now a burning mass with explosions inside.

Cam searched for additional targets. She only saw Cameron, Cammy, and Bob on the tarmac. She was surprised as she started to feel and hear bullet impacts. Someone was firing on her….

Gail saw Savannah was headed towards the fight. She would have expected nothing less from her. She was familiar with both the way in and the way out she used from the base.

"There's a deep drainage ditch up ahead and it goes along the side of the old runway." Gail said. "Head in the other direction and it will flatten out so we can cross in the SUV."

Savannah bounced along the trail in the SUV. It could be heard to strike things and run over things. There was a lot of noise from impacts underneath the SUV. Both of the side view mirrors were gone at this point.

"The SUV is getting pretty wasted taking the trail." Savannah said. "I think its minutes are numbered. We're still close enough to enter the fight and help out."

They could clearly see the activity at the old helicopter base now. They were still a few minutes out if the SUV held up. If not, they would need to advance on foot. They could cut straight across the runway area if they needed to. There was a lot of flaming wreckage on and around the old runway.

Jesse could see several HK Tracks moving around silhouetted by the flames. She was sure it was going to be bad news. One of them would probably target the SUV anytime now. She wanted to make sure Savannah was alerted to the threat.

"There are some HK Tracks down there." Jesse said.

Gail zoomed in her vision to determine the threat level.

"I see two of them supporting Cameron and Bob." Gail said. "It looks like there are three more. One is backing up Cammy."

Savannah was glad to hear Cameron, Cammy, and Bob were all still up and in the fight. She knew it was a good thing there was a HK Track with each of them.

Jesse touched Savannah's shoulder with the news. It was a silent sign of support. She knew Savannah was just as worried about Cameron and Cammy and she was about Gail. She knew they were both worried about all of them.

Savannah raced alongside the drainage ditch until it was low enough to cross at an angle.

"There's a gate up ahead." Gail said. "It is probably still open."

They crashed through a small gate which was open in a shower of sparks. It was the gate Gail followed the patrol out of earlier. They left it open and she did too. They were almost to the other end of the runway.

Savannah's team heard the report of Cam taking hits.

Gail pointed and opened her side window.

"I see some Grays off to your right." Gail said.

Gail went to lean out the window to fire on them.

Savannah could see the Grays were all bunched together. She was in control of a two ton weapon right now.

"I have them." Savannah said. "Everyone hang on."

Savannah tromped on the accelerator and floored it. The SUV surged ahead. She caught the Grays by surprise. She plowed into the group of five figures. They went flying like bowling pins. One flew up in the air and crashed down on the hood and impacted with the front window. He cracked the windshield and flew off to the side. She could feel another one was being drug underneath.

Gail looked back at the group they ran down, none of them moved. An arm bounced into view and then a leg behind them. The dragging noise under the SUV stopped and a headless torso bounced to a stop as she watched.

"Scratch five." Gail said.

Steam poured out of the damaged front end of the SUV. The radiator was compromised. The engine would still run as it overheated for a few more minutes. They were almost to the location where Cameron, Cammy, and Bob were at.

Cammy called for assistance.

"We're coming, Cammy…." Savannah said.

She stayed on the gas. She wanted to get as close as possible before the SUV quit on her.

Seconds ago:

Cam dived low in the manned drone between the burning hangar, and the hangar Cameron indicated the trailers full of HK drones were parked in.

She avoided any damaging fire and spotted the location of her attackers. She would slide around the back of the hangar and open up on them.

When she came around the back of the hangar, there were four bodies at the spot with a steaming SUV driving towards the hangars. It appeared something bounced away from underneath the SUV. She could see Savannah was behind the wheel as she passed low alongside of the steaming and smoking SUV.

"Thanks, Savannah." Cam said.

Savannah glanced over.

"Anytime…." Savannah said.

Cam received word the Blackhawk was near. She flew a quick sweep of the base and headed out to escort them in. They were still worried about any hostile HK drones coming to attack them.

One of their Terminators was at the controls of the Blackhawk as Cam came up alongside of it. She moved away and searched for any enemy HK drones looking for them, or coming to reinforce the base. Nothing was spotted. Well, nothing was spotted yet.

John Henry directed their four drones to attack the two assembly factories. Two hit each target in the sectors Ally, Sheila, and Cammy indicated for them to strike to cause maximum damage.

Once the buildings were hit, the drones waited until any survivors made it out. They then moved in and finished off anyone who was left. Once the buildings collapsed in on themselves, it was clear there were no survivors. John Henry redirected the drones.

One drone was directed to watch over Ally and her cargo. The other three were sent to the area of the old helicopter base. John Henry made sure they all squawked the transponder code Cammy programmed into the HK Tracks. They didn't want to lose any to 'friendly fire'.

The drones arrived soon after the Blackhawk did. The helicopter let off the rest of the team members. They needed all the drivers they could get.

Everyone was armed and looked for any more targets. Their three drones searched for any more patrols, none were found.

Cammy and her HK Track eliminated the threat she encountered as Savannah and her team arrived.

It looked like the Resistance won.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

One Once

Look around NOW, you are surrounded
By those who have abandoned you
The one that was once the closest
Has been pushed the farthest from you

You have built a mighty fortress
It has grown empty and cold
Life is passing by every second
No one gets younger, only old

Timbers crack, walls bend and buckle
Look into the empty darkness so black
There is still one who was once the closest
That has always helped protect your back

As the world crushes and injures you
No one around you can see it develop
You do gain strength and support from
A heart and soul yours once did envelop

Anguish, pain, suffering and anger
Are not able to be seen by those
Who have willingly abandoned you
Only the one you once chose, knows

Life is the final battlefield
There is no surrender or retreat
Dig in, hold on and fight
Soon enough the Maker we meet

Nobody