Chapter 572

Metal Down

Cammy led the team towards the target area. The gully was deep and they were below the level of the ground around them. Sometimes it was shallower when it widened out some and they needed to bend slightly to remain below ground level. It was most likely how Gail spotted movement before. They made sure they didn't do the same thing. They wanted their approach to remain unobserved if possible. They didn't want a 'welcoming committee' waiting for them as they waited for the man who fled.

Sheila reported there was no visible activity on the ground. There was nothing in the air around them other than their own drones. She said there was nothing in the gully in front of them. She did note it was going to get much shallower around the next bend. The gully split into two forks at that point.

Cammy stopped the team's advance.

Savannah was in back of Cammy but didn't close up on her all of the way. She wasn't sure what the stop was for.

"What do you have, Cammy?" Savannah asked.

Cammy could see they would be more exposed. There was also a new development. At least she hoped it was a new one.

"Nothing…." Cammy said. "The next bend in the gully will put us in visual contact with the building. It will be a two way street. I can see there are monitoring sensors of some type as well."

The information alarmed Savannah. Their position might already be known.

"Are those the first you've seen?" Savannah asked.

Cammy thought she was vigilant.

"Yes." Cammy said.

They all knew they may have passed or missed other ones.

Gail was worried too. She wanted to backtrack to see if there were any behind them. She thought it would be better to know going forward if they might already be compromised. It wouldn't take very long to do.

"Now I know what to look for specifically, let me go back and check for a few hundred feet." Gail said.

Before Savannah could stop her, Gail went back. Savannah didn't think it would matter if they found anything they may have tripped. They were going to be more exposed in a matter of minutes anyway.

Gail wanted to go back to make sure there was no one following them as well. Sheila should have spotted them if there were, but if never hurt to double check. Based on the cowardice of the other man, it was possible there could have been someone else hiding. She wouldn't put it past a Gray to remain in hiding until they thought it was safe to come out. It was clear they didn't take care of each other like they did in the Resistance. She knew when one became complacent on the battlefield, the results could be devastating. In many of the battles they fought, it's exactly what the enemy did. Savannah's safety was important to her. The gully was clear and no other sensors were detected. She returned a short time later.

"It's clear behind us." Gail said. "There were no sensors."

Savannah received a report the MIKE Force, or Strike Team, was on the ground near the location of their vehicles. They already made the trek from the Blackhawk. Terminators could move fast on the ground. She reminded them again there were several 'packages' on the ground around the vehicles. They didn't want anyone to accidentally trip a Claymore mine. Since no activity was spotted, Savannah felt it was worth the extra exposure to use the dry wash at this time. They would be more exposed, but the risk seemed low.

"I want the Strike Team to move up the dry wash." Savannah said. "Are there any other suggestions?"

Cammy knew the Strike Team could do several things at once.

"Do you want to keep them together?" Cammy asked. "They're all Terminators."

Savannah understood Cammy's reference. She didn't necessarily agree with it on a personal level, but understood it from an operational level. Terminators were much more durable in combat than humans. They could take a lot of punishment and keep fighting. If she split the MIKE Force into two segments, they would be able to provide additional coverage and present two targets instead of one to the enemy. She remembered what she viewed on the satellite map. They could work as three teams. She understood she was the weak link among the three teams since she was human. She couldn't take damage like the Terminators could. Since the battle hadn't commenced yet for them, the MIKE Force wouldn't be needed to back them up or bail them out. They would be able to conduct their own assault. The status of the new arrivals was now as a Strike Team.

"The Strike Team can split into two units once the objective is in sight." Savannah said. "One section can continue up the dry wash, the other can move around the backside of the structure. The teams will now be called Team Two and Team Three, we are Team One."

Savannah's team avoided the sensors and soon the target was under direct observation. Within minutes Team Two was in position and did as well. A few minutes later, Team Three was in place.

Sheila reported no movement on the ground or in the air, other than their three teams.

Cameron's Terminator at the junction of highway to the turnoff reported all was clear.

John Henry checked for any transmissions other than from their three teams and Cameron's Terminator. There was no remote signal either from anywhere in the area.

"There have been no communications from the location other than our own." John Henry said. "I don't know if there were any before Cameron's Terminator arrived and reported the incident. We don't know if they got a signal out when the HK Tracks went on the offensive."

Savannah could see two sides of the building from where they were currently at. She wanted to get her directions straight.

"From the front of the structure, where was the last spot Cameron was?" Savannah asked Cammy.

Cammy could only go by what Cameron told her. It may or may not be true.

"She reported it was at the dry wash near the structure. She wanted to look inside." Cammy said. "Her Terminator was waiting for her."

Savannah hadn't heard any gunfire. Cammy or Gail hadn't reported any since they arrived. It was a large building and there could be multiple levels to it. The close proximity of it to the high tension power lines was another red flag to her. Someone could tap a lot of power off of the transmission line. It reeked of Skynet. There were other reasons they could be out of contact.

"Maybe there's a communications blackout inside." Savannah said. "There were at some of the other facilities associated with this group. We've encountered these before."

Cammy thought about what would happen once they entered. If any of the HK Tracks were functional, they would perceive them as a threat. They should visually recognize her, and Cameron, since she was the one who reprogrammed them. She made sure all of them knew what she looked like. They also would need to make sure their transponder codes were turned on.

"Cameron shouldn't have been targeted by the HK Tracks if any were still operational. They would detect her as me." Cammy said. "Anyone else they would perceive as a threat and attack. They will 'know' me unless they have since been reprogrammed."

Savannah knew one hostile Terminator was reported as 'functional' by the deceased security guard. He may have reprogrammed the transponder codes. He may not thought to review the visual files. Cammy should still be recognized as 'friendly'.

It wasn't what she wanted to think about. It was the fact however. She would need to split her team up and send Cammy in alone. There were a couple of other Terminators she would like to have brought along based on the current situation.

"It means you have to go in alone and use extreme caution." Savannah said. "I don't like it. I need Cam and Ally here."

They didn't have time to wait for them.

Cammy wanted to know what happened as well. She also worried about Savannah's security.

"I'll be fine." Cammy said. "Gail…."

Gail would fight until termination for Savannah.

"I'll remain with Savannah." Gail said. "She will be protected."

Cammy was satisfied with it. She still wanted to know what happened with Savannah and Gail on the last mission. She knew it didn't really matter right now. She knew it didn't really matter at all. Gail would protect Savannah at all costs. What else was there to know? She headed out on her own….

Savannah thought it was just like the 'Cameron clone' Cammy was. She also knew Cammy would take all the same chances and risks. Cammy was 'Cameron'.

They needed to find Cameron. Cammy was the best qualified to enter the danger zone. Savannah knew they would all need to enter the danger zone. She didn't look forward to it, but she needed to find Cameron. No risk was too great to do so.

Cammy felt Savannah was in good hands. She moved forward away from Gail and Savannah. In just a few minutes she was completely exposed. There was a stretch of open ground she needed to cover to reach the building. She didn't detect any cameras pointed in her direction. No audible alarm was sounded. It didn't mean those things didn't happen. She was just unaware if they did. No one took a shot at her.

She reached the side of the structure and peeked in an open door. She could see everything within her view was in chaos. It was probably where the man they terminated fled from. It was most likely where Cameron went in with her Terminator. Her main concern was the Terminator who the security guard indicated was still active when he fled the building. She needed to consider the Terminator may have been able to reprogram the HK Tracks she programmed to go on the rampage. She would try for a better look around the outside first.

Cammy moved further along the side toward the loading dock. She took a careful look around the corner. The truck she was in the other day was still parked there. She moved up alongside of it. It looked operational.

She went underneath the trailer and looked around before she came up on the driver's side. She didn't spot any activity or movement. She quickly moved up to the cab of the big rig and looked inside. It was empty. The keys were in the ignition. It was clear the truck driver, or anyone else, could have left in the big rig if they wanted to get away earlier. It seemed to indicate the truck driver didn't survive. She jumped down from the side of the cab and moved back under the trailer to the side she originally approached from. She didn't spot anyone or any movement.

She moved along the side of the trailer to the rear of the truck. The wall of the loading bay was in front of her. She peeked inside the building between a gap in the wall and the back of the truck. Nothing moved inside. Everything was blasted apart. Some type of fire suppression system contained most of the fires which erupted from any explosions.

She thought an unconventional entry was the best approach. If someone waited in ambush, it was logical to think they would concentrate on the doors. The open door she peered in earlier would be the normal entry point. She climbed up inside the opening between the truck and the wall. She looked into the back of the truck, it was empty. She looked around the workroom floor. Nothing moved. It was hard to imagine not one piece of machinery was still operational to some degree. She wasn't so sure about it. Caution was still in order. The still functional Terminator was on the top of her mind.

It appeared the group of HK Tracks she modified were all inoperative at this time. There was no sign of Cameron or her Terminator. There was no sign of any Terminator. There were only dead humans. Most of them were torn apart by minigun fire. Since most of the minigun fire was at close range, they looked more like bloody hamburger.

Cammy made her report to John, Savannah and John Henry. She wasn't sure if she would be able to transmit from inside the structure. It was a grim assessment and Cameron wasn't spotted. It may or may not be a good thing. At least she didn't find her deactivated or destroyed chassis. Not yet anyway.

Savannah took in the report. She was glad to get the update from Cammy. It also indicated a deeper problem. If Cammy could communicate with her, Cameron or her Terminator should be able to do so as well. There was more there than met the eye. It didn't look like anything good either.

"What else do you think?" Savannah asked.

Cammy thought there might be was a lower level or some hidden part of the building she hadn't found yet. She remembered the close proximity of the high tension transmission power lines. Skynet liked to have access to as much power as it could get a hold of. A lot of power was needed to run a TDE. So far they hadn't found any large or giant power cells yet. Cameron encountered one in her future with the last version of Skynet she destroyed with a Nike warhead. She looked around at the destruction. She was sure there was more there than met the eye.

"There might be a lower level to this place. There may even be a 'Clean Room'." Cammy said. "I don't think everything would have been destroyed when the upper level was attacked. It's possible there's still activity going on. It's most likely where Cameron is at."

Cammy didn't mention what she was worried about. If Cameron was there in a lower level, she might not still be active. It's possible she was deactivated when she arrived and looked around, and was taken below. She didn't want to speculate until she found out more.

Savannah was worried about the 'three security specialists' who were reported. It seemed it was the most critical thing for her to worry about.

"What about any Terminators?" Savannah asked. "We know the security guard indicated there were several of them."

From what Cammy could see, there were only dead humans and wrecked HK Tracks. She hadn't moved too much from her initial position. She didn't want to become a target without knowing what else was around her.

"I haven't spotted any Terminators." Cammy said.

Savannah was dissatisfied with the assessment. There should be five Terminators in the building including Cameron and her Terminator. A more thorough search was needed. It was time to move up. She at least needed Gail to reinforce Cammy. She planned to go as well. Here with the two teams from the Strike Force as well.

"I want part of each team to move into the building. Do you see any problem with it?" Savannah asked. "I don't want to put anyone In harm's way if we can avoid it. I know it can't always be avoided."

Cammy moved away from the opening and started to lose communications. She moved back to the opening.

"No. I just discovered a problem." Cammy said. "It appears as I move further into the building I'll lose communication with you and the base. There's something which blocks the signal somehow. As long as I'm near the outside, I can communicate."

Savannah needed to be there herself. She didn't want to lose communication with Cammy. She wanted some additional backup as well.

"Gail and I will come in where you're at now." Savannah said. "One member from each of the two teams will join us."

Savannah issued the commands and made the assignments. She needed to make sure everyone was adequately protected. With Cameron and her Terminator missing, it meant the two of them were somewhere inside of the building. There was probably something more than the jamming field as to why they were unable to communicate.

Everyone wanted to help find Cameron. Based on the current situation, and Cammy's observation, it didn't look good.

Savannah and Gail moved up to join Cammy inside. They took the same route in Cammy used. She hadn't triggered any gunfire or stepped on a mine. They made it over to the spot where the truck was backed in. It was a tight squeeze, especially for Gail. She previously directed one Terminator from each team outside to join them. Soon Steve and Ed were with them.

When Savannah moved to look at something with Gail, Cammy quietly made sure Steve and Ed would protect Savannah above all else if something went bad. They knew to do it anyway. She knew Savannah would reject the extra protection if she knew.

Gail stayed with Savannah like glue. They moved around a lot of dead bodies and wrecked HK Tracks. In the back corner, they spotted one of the larger HK Treads. It was the type which could be manned. It appeared mostly undamaged. It was identical to the one they captured before which was stationed at the base.

Savannah looked it over. It seemed fully functional to her. She was very skilled in the use of the one at the Resistance base. She never did any live fire with it, even if she did use blanks and simulated missile launches. It was a formidable weapon. One should never be taken lightly on the battlefield. She wondered why it hadn't joined the fight.

"Cammy, come here, please." Savannah called out.

Cammy arrived and looked at the big HK Tread. She didn't see anything wrong with it. There was one feature which wasn't turned on.

"It's fully operational." Cammy said. "The autonomous control wasn't activated."

Savannah was worried about it. They needed to make sure it stayed inactive on its own. Maybe they could confiscate it when they left. It didn't appear to be damaged at all, other than a few scratches from bullet ricochets and soot from the fire when it burnt near it.

"Disconnect all autonomous control of this thing and any outside control anyone could have. Leave it on manual control for now. We'll destroy it before we go if we can't take it in the truck parked at the dock." Savannah said. "It's pretty big."

Cammy double checked everything to make sure the HK Tread would respond to manual control only. She didn't want any surprises either. She didn't know if they would be able to take it with them or not, but it was a good idea since it was in near perfect condition.

Steve and Ed moved from damaged HK Track to HK Track. They made sure all of them were deactivated, and the power source was disconnected. They wanted to make sure one wasn't playing possum to acquire as many targets as possible. They didn't want any surprises while they searched the building.

Cammy searched for a lower level entrance. She found something else along with it. It wasn't what she wanted to find. It was a bad omen.

"Savannah, you better take a look at this." Cammy said.

Savannah moved up as Gail followed her. She knew there was trouble.

Lying there on the floor was Cameron's Terminator. He was destroyed and his chip was gone. Next to him was another heavily damaged hostile Terminator. His head was torn off and his chip was gone as well. A battle was fought there.

Cammy moved some debris which had fallen. She spotted the opening.

"This leads to a lower level." Cammy said.

Savannah didn't like the feel of any of it. She wanted additional support. She also wanted some additional firepower.

"Ed, have Team Three move into the structure and make sure nothing happens up here when we go down below." Savannah said. "You remain here with them and see if any of those HK Tracks are restorable to service. We will try and take them with us. Steve will accompany Team One, my team."

Ed would need to move to an opening to communicate with the others.

"Affirmative…." Ed said. "I'll notify John and John Henry as well. Do you want me to inform them about Cameron's Terminator or not?"

Savannah understood the implication. John would assume something happened to Cameron as well when he found out about her Terminator. She liked the discretion Ed offered. She wanted John to know where they stood.

"You can inform the Command Center of everything we know so far." Savannah said. "We don't know what's going to happen to any of us. They should at least know what happened so far."

Savannah looked at the opening Cammy uncovered. She wanted to find Cameron. She hoped to get some answers and equipment while they were there.

"When you're done, collect Cameron's Terminator and the other deactivated Terminator. We're taking them back with us." Savannah said. "Load two HK Tracks into the truck if they're functional and reprogrammed."

Team One waited at the entrance to the lower level.

Steve thought Savannah was going to go down first. He wanted to take the risk.

"Let me go first." Steve said.

Savannah smiled and touched Steve's arm. He visibly responded to her touch. She knew Cammy would go first, no matter what she said.

Steve felt the 'electric' touch of the 'Chosen One'. It was very personal. It meant a lot to him. No one ever touched him except Savannah.

"Cammy will lead, Steve." Savannah said. "You'll follow me with Gail behind you."

Cammy smiled at Savannah. She was 'Cameron' and she was going to find Cameron.

Down into the rabbit hole they ventured….

Savannah wanted to find Cameron. So far it didn't look good. There was no sign of activity anywhere. There needed to be someone somewhere. How could everyone be terminated and everything shut down? It just didn't make any sense. Someone needed to pull the chips from the two Terminators.

"Cammy, use double caution, there has to be someone." Savannah whispered as they descended.

They knew it could be a human or a Terminator. They all knew it most likely wasn't a human.

John and John Henry waited in anticipation once the team lost communications as they moved deeper into the building. They were able to receive some body cam footage prior to losing the signal. They could see the interior was a battle zone.

They received the report from Ed.

John saw the news for what it was.

"I don't like this at all." John said.

John Henry needed to agree. Nothing looked promising.

"It doesn't look like things went well for Cameron." John Henry said. "The fact her Terminator was down and his chip was removed looks like bad news."

Based on what the man said who escaped from the building, it sounded like there were three Terminators. They didn't know for sure.

"There are still at least two Skynet Terminators unaccounted for." John said. "It is likely there could be more."

John Henry didn't know what the lower level would yield. He did know Savannah and Cammy would find Cameron. It was Cameron's condition which was what would be the unknown factor.

"Savannah will find Cameron, John. She'll use caution to do it." John Henry said. "You know Cammy won't leave without her."

John wasn't sure if he meant Cameron or Savannah who Cammy wouldn't leave without.

"I'm more afraid Cammy will have to become 'Cameron'." John said.

John Henry could see it was the quick fix if they found Cameron's chip.

"If worse comes to worse, and Cameron's chip is recoverable, her chip in Cammy is 'Cameron' at that point."

John worried about Savannah. She would lose her cyborg lover.

"What about Cammy, what happens to her?" John asked.

John Henry thought of the incident the other day in the hallway outside of Savannah's room. It would eliminate anything of the same nature from occurring again. He saw there was a plus side to all of it. It would at least be what Cameron wanted to happen.

"Maybe you'll accept the 'Natural Order' and allow Savannah to fulfill her destiny with you and Cameron…." John Henry said. "Cammy has expressed her desire to be reintegrated with Cameron at that juncture. You could help everyone readjust, including yourself."

John was tired of fighting it all the time. He didn't want Savannah to have to lose a loved one again. Maybe it could be like John Henry said.

"If Cameron's been destroyed, I'll do it, for all of us…." John said.

John Henry knew there were other alternatives.

"Remember, Cameron has a spare chip…." John Henry said.

John always thought he should be the one to have control of it. He didn't. It always bothered him. He believed it was so he could be 'bypassed' if Cameron wanted something 'different' when it was used.

"Who has control of it?" John asked. "Wait, don't tell me, Savannah does."

John Henry thought it was the best choice. The 'Chosen One' would know what was best for everyone. Cameron told him it herself before. John told him not to tell him, but he knew John wanted him to tell him anyway.

"You're correct." John Henry said. "There's no one she trusts more with it, with 'herself'."

John just shook his head.

"Not even me." John said.

It seemed very clear to John Henry.

"Not even you…." John Henry said.

They both knew Savannah NEVER gave up on Cameron, no matter how bleak or hopeless it looked.

John knew Savannah's love was stronger than his. He understood why Savannah was the 'Chosen One'.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Living Dead

Hurt me
Make me bleed
If I can still feel
I am alive indeed

Cut me
Make the blood flow
It is within
That resides the foe

Crush me
Make me scream
Torment without end
Make it NOT a dream

Sever me
Rejoice at destruction
Worthless at life
Ready for reduction

Punish me
Make me suffer more
Life is the penalty sentence
Anguish misery torture gore

Nobody