Chapter 575

Dread The Tread

The group of Resistance Terminators were aware they were about to have a real fight on their hands. They were about to leave the building to engage the enemy forces in front of it. Now there was trouble behind them as well.

The big HK Tread clanked forward towards them.

Cameron was ready to fire on the HK Tread's weapons targeting system. When she entered the building earlier, she saw the HK Tread parked in the corner. It was undamaged and inactive. It was clear to her it didn't participate in the battle when the HK Tracks were unloaded from the truck.

Cammy thought about earlier when Savannah and her looked over the HK Tread. Savannah wanted to make sure the HK Tread would respond to manual controls only. The autonomous feature was completely disconnected. Right before the HK drone crashed through the hangar roof, Savannah was in the corner by it. It was the furthest location from the flames, with the least amount of smoke in the air. New hope blossomed with her.

"Wait." Cammy shouted. "It's Savannah."

Cameron was a little confused. Savannah was terminated. She felt a sense of relief. Could it be true? There were only seconds to act. She needed to verify Cammy's statement.

"What?" Cameron asked. "How do you know it's Savannah?"

Cammy recalled the earlier events and Savannah's concerns.

"It's Savannah inside. I modified the HK Tread to operate only on manual control earlier. Savannah and I didn't want any surprises." Cammy said. "Savannah must have taken refuge in it when the HK drone crashed. She's been protected in it. It saved her. I even disconnected the power supply. Savannah watched me do it all. It can't operate on its own, someone else would need to search for why it wouldn't function. Savannah knew exactly what to do. Savannah isn't dead."

A new spark flamed within all of the Terminators. The 'Chosen One' didn't abandon them through death. She was in the biggest weapon around and she was about to take the fight to the enemy. Savannah was an inspiration to them all. There was no need to mourn her loss, instead they could follow her to victory.

The HK Tread rumbled past them and headed for the door. Steve and Ed rushed to open it. The HK Tread paused momentarily. It was clear it was under the control of Savannah. They were able to open the roll up door right before the HK Tread arrived. It could have smashed through it anyway. The sheet metal wouldn't have been able to put up much of a resistance.

Savannah took the fight to the group who came to attack them. The HK Tread would be a formidable opponent against them. It looked like all her practice with the one they captured before paid off. She knew exactly what to do and how to operate it to its fullest capability under manual control. The only thing she hadn't actually used before was live ordinance. It was time to see how those features worked under combat conditions.

It was a game changer for the Resistance team.

"Let's Go." Cameron yelled as they moved to back Savannah's play. "Gail, watch our six."

Sheila was a little surprised at what she witnessed next. She watched as the HK Tread exited the burning and collapsing building. It headed out to join the fight, on their side. It opened up on the attacking force. It single handedly killed everyone where they tried to fight. It was clear none of the enemy from the convoy was going to get past it. It was a good thing because most of the Resistance drones were about to run out of ammunition, if they hadn't already. The battle with the final fleet of HK drones used up most of their ordinance. All of their missiles were already expended. They would only be able to retaliate until their miniguns ran dry. They would need to be very conservative and selective where they used the last of their ammunition until they became nothing more than a target for the enemy themselves.

"There's a big HK Tread which just exited out of the burning building." Sheila reported. "It is firing on the attacking force. It's decimated the Grays."

They watched it all in the Command Center. What appeared to be turning into a very negative situation for their troops on the ground, was now a little more positive in their favor.

A short time ago:

Savannah sent all the Terminators off to assist Cameron's Terminator. She knew the more of them there were to combat the two hostile Terminators, the quicker the threat would be ended. She looked at the big HK Tread which sat in the corner. She knew they would need to destroy it. She figured the best way to do it was to overload the power cell. She wanted to make herself useful while the Terminators secured the interior of the burning building. There was a lot of smoke and ash in the air, it made her cough.

She started over towards the HK Tread. She was inside of it earlier when Cammy switched everything to manual function only. They didn't want the HK tread to start up and attack them. She also watched Cammy disconnect the power supply. It didn't matter who would gain control of the HK Tread, if there wasn't any power for it to operate.

Savannah was about to open the hatch in the side of it when she heard the minigun fire, and the roof started to cave in. It was right where she was at twenty seconds ago. She could see it was already a fireball as the HK drone crashed through the roof. She opened the hatch and went inside. Even as the door shut, debris hit and slammed into the HK Tread. The entire HK Tread shook and vibrated. She couldn't help but think about what would have happened if she was still in the spot where she was at only a short time ago.

'It was close.' Savannah thought. 'It was way too close.'

Savannah knew she almost died. She didn't. She was trained on how conditions could change in a moment on the battlefield. What she just experienced was one of them. She was protected for now. The direction was always forward. She was trained to take the fight to the enemy. It's exactly what she intended to do. She was in total darkness. She took out her phone and used the light to see. She reversed what Cammy did earlier to reconnect the power supply. As soon as she did, the lights inside came on.

Savannah knew how to operate the big offensive weapon, and she was good at it. She spent a lot of time practicing with it at the base. She always thought she wouldn't operate one in combat until she was in the future. It was no longer relevant. The future was now. She checked all her systems and weapons. She touched the entry hatch and quickly pulled her hand back. The Coltan door was very hot to the touch. She wouldn't be able to get out of it. She knew she would need to drive the HK Tread away from where it was, or she was going to get cooked. Coltan was very heat resistant as far as damage to the metal itself. It could still heat up and turn the interior of the HK Tread into an oven. There was probably only so much breathable air in the super heated environment.

She checked the view screen and saw the Resistance Terminators were about to venture outside. They were all armed to the teeth and looked very determined. She couldn't communicate with any of them. The door was still too hot to touch at this point. If anything, it was even hotter.

Savannah started the HK Tread forward and turned on the targeting systems. She figured she could give them a hand. She knew where the ramp was at which led out of the burning structure. She saw it earlier when they moved up along the side of the big rig parked at the loading dock. She headed for the door. She knocked a burning HK drone out of the way and continued forward. She figured it was the one which would have killed her if she wouldn't have been able to get inside of the HK Tread when she did. Now she was the one who knocked the burning carcass of its chassis out of the way. She was going to crash through the door. She saw Steve and Ed move to open it for her. She paused as the door opened and headed out onto the battlefield.

She trained for this.

Now it was for real.

Savannah went to work.

John tried to reach Cammy or Savannah.

Once she was clear of the jamming field, Savannah could communicate.

"John, I'm in the HK Tread." Savannah reported as soon she was out of the building. "Cameron is with Cammy and our group. She's operational. From what I saw of the battle inside of the building with two Skynet Terminators, there's going to be damage to all of our Terminators. Several crashed HK drones ended up inside of the building. There was a lot of shrapnel along with intense heat from several fires. I was fortunate enough to be able to get inside of the HK Tread. It's why I am where I am now. "

She didn't want to mention she was sure she would be dead if she wasn't. It could still happen anyway. She was about to face the enemy.

John and John Henry both knew Cameron was damaged by Savannah's statement. It was probably significantly. They at least found Cameron and she was still in the fight. They both figured some damage was better than terminated. Then again Cameron could get pretty far off base when she was damaged. Either way she always made it. Savannah was with her so it would help Cameron. It was also clear by her statement all of their Terminators were going to be damaged to some extent from the effects of the battle.

Sheila could see Savannah became the focus of the enemy. She wanted to try to take some of the heat off of Savannah. She decided to use herself as bait. She went to full throttle and dropped from the sky. She moved quickly. She made a fast low pass. She was so low, she almost touched the vehicles. It would force the attackers to get out of the way for fear of being rammed by the drone. It sent the attacking force to seek cover. It looked like a strafing run. She was out of ammunition. They didn't know it. She wanted to draw some of the enemy fire away from Savannah. It was where all the fire was concentrated now. She wanted to keep the attackers on the defensive instead of the offensive.

Seconds ago:

From the drone footage, they noticed Savannah in the HK Tread started to take all the firepower of the enemy. It was understandable since it was the biggest threat to all of them. If left unchecked the HK Tread would kill all of them. Normally on the battlefield there would be a group of them working in conjunction with each other.

"Savannah's in danger." John Henry said.

John didn't have a solution. All he could do was hope none of the enemy possessed any type of anti-armor weapon, such as a LAW rocket.

"All we can do is hope in this case Skynet built a quality piece of machinery." John said. "We need the Coltan armor to do its job for Savannah."

Sheila heard the conversation.

"I can do one better than 'hope'." Sheila said.

John Henry and John watched what she was about to do. They watched from other drone footage as the manned drone shot through the sky in a dive at a very high speed.

"What's Sheila doing?" John Henry asked. "She's out of ammunition."

John at first feared she was going to slam into the attackers and hope the ruptured power cells would terminate everyone. In a moment, it dawned on him.

"It's a sucker play." John said.

They saw how the weapons fire concentrated on Sheila and away from Savannah as she passed very low over the attackers. None of them could even get a shot off at her until she passed.

It gave John Henry an idea. It was time to play Chess. He sent out a series of commands. He would move the other pieces around on the Chessboard to protect the Queen.

Seconds ago:

Savannah could see she was the target of everyone from the enemy position. She sure hoped none of them carried a LAW rocket, or worse, a TOW missile, or a Dragon.

There were a lot of bullet impacts on the Coltan armor, but it was all small arms. She pressed on the attack. It sounded like 'metal hail' from her perspective. She saw the manned drone make its high speed run and the impact of bullets all but ceased. Their drones began to do the same thing. It saved the HK Tread from any serious damage.

Savannah pressed her attack.

Two of their drones made passes from opposite sides against the stranded convoy. They were out of ammunition as well. It caused the attackers to seek cover, or try and shoot at the drones. The HK Tread moved closer and attacked them at the same time. The third drone came in from the way the attackers came. It came in from behind them. Not everyone sought cover this time. The drone opened up as it fired off the last of its ammunition. It took down careless and overconfident targets. It was a good thing, since many of those were the most aggressive opponents.

The HK Tread advanced as it fired its missiles and miniguns. Cameron and the rest of her team picked off fleeing targets. It turned into a 'Turkey Shoot'. The battlefield was theirs….

Cameron and her team moved to make sure any hostile Terminator was deactivated and their chip removed. They collected four more damaged enemy Terminators.

The entire situation was a substantial dual pronged enemy counterattack. They never faced anything like it before.

Cameron looked over the battlefield. There were fires and drifting smoke. Every now and then there was the sound of ordinance 'cooking off' from the flames.

"Sheila, is it clear?" Cameron asked. "What else are we going to need to face?"

John was glad to hear Cameron's voice.

Sheila went back up to altitude. She didn't see any moving targets.

"Yes. It's clear for now." Sheila said. "There's no enemy movement in the air or on the ground."

John wanted to assist Cameron in any way he could.

"Cameron, what do you need?" John asked.

Cameron went over what they were going to do and what they needed. She rapidly listed some things they would need and where to obtain them. Cameron's Terminators made a complete listing of all the useful items they spotted along the route as they following the big rig. Once it was parked, they scouted the area around them. The goal was to know what assets were available if they would need them. They were going to need some now.

John Henry was surprised at everything Cameron was able to tell him about. He was even more surprised when Cameron suggested they actually pay for it in advance, instead of just 'appropriating' it. He knew if there was still some type of difficulty with procuring anything, it would be taken anyway.

John was actually more surprised than John Henry about Cameron's suggestion to pay for things. He was sure it was because Savannah was with Cameron. He knew Savannah would want everyone compensated. He also knew if someone hesitated to rent or sell the equipment, Savannah would OK its confiscation.

"I've made arrangements for what you need." John Henry said. "CamNet has assisted me with the procurement. Everything is underway. Some things may take a little longer than others."

Earlier, after the Blackhawk let the MIKE Force off, it left the area. They didn't want it to be a sitting duck on the ground. It was recalled to round up more of their Terminators. It was fully loaded and on its way back.

John was worried about a third counterattack.

"Is it safe to stay there?" John asked. "The Blackhawk is on its way there now with all the Terminators we could round up. They're also bringing Thermite. They're bringing a lot of it."

Cameron looked over the vast area of destruction. They already started to collect bodies. They wanted to make sure there were no survivors. There weren't, not at least once they were found cowering under overturned vehicles.

"We need to 'clean' this place up." Cameron said. "Savannah and I destroyed the Skynet computer here. It's done calling for help. It's terminated. Skynet lost again."

Savannah climbed out of the HK Tread. Cammy and Cameron both gave her a hug with tears in their eyes.

It seemed to be another close one for Savannah and they all knew it. It was another close one for Cameron too. Savannah's ability to bring the HK Tread into the battle made the difference. She saved all of them a lot of damage. Her hours of operating the one they captured before paid off. They were all grateful for her quick thinking.

Gail approached Savannah after Cameron and Cammy left to assist in the collection of bodies.

"I tried to come for you." Gail said. "They stopped me."

Savannah was touched by Gail's devotion. She knew it was something Cameron and Cammy tried as well. She appreciated the effort, but didn't want others to be put at risk because of her.

"You never need to take any damage because of me." Savannah said. "I do appreciate it. We're really even now."

Gail tilted her head slightly. She wondered how. It was Savannah who took the fight to the enemy and saved all of them from further damage.

Savannah thanked Gail again. Gail went off to assist the other Terminators. She looked over the HK Tread. It had taken a lot of damage but it was still fully operational. It showed her just how deadly one of them would be on the battlefield.

The bodies of the fallen were collected and added to the raging fire of the building. It wasn't long before a 'thumping' sound could be heard, as it increasingly grew in volume.

Their Blackhawk returned with a full load of Terminators to help out and police the area.

Soon there was an even louder 'thumping' as a giant S-64 Skycrane arrived. It was located nearby. It was on standby for fire fighting duties in the local 'burn area'. John Henry secured its immediate use for five times its normal rental fee. They left the huge water tank it normally carried behind. It brought a large 'front end loader' with it, slung below it.

Cameron informed John Henry where there was one at near their location they could 'borrow' if it couldn't be properly procured. She originally spotted it on the way to the target area.

Work was started to collect the downed HK drones. Several large eighteen wheeler dump trucks arrived. They were also 'borrowed' from the same work site the front end loaded was 'borrowed' from. The crashed HK drones were loaded into those.

The bodies were all dealt with. They were moved into the building as the fire burnt. Thermite was dropped on the inferno from the Blackhawk to insure everything inside was destroyed. It was the same thing they did with the destroyed hangars at the old helicopter base.

Cameron, at Savannah's urging, decided to take the HK Tread back with them. It assisted them and earned a place in the Resistance fleet. It was something they tried to do with any piece of equipment which assisted them. It was why they took back four of the HK Tracks Cammy reprogrammed previously, which initiated the attack against the enemy when they were unloaded. The fact it was able to inflict such damage wasn't lost on any of them.

The HK Tread was secured to the S-64 Skycrane and it left with it. Cameron and Savannah, along with the other seven damaged Terminators, boarded the Blackhawk after they were done policing the area. The new group of their Terminators finished up. A new set of Resistance drones arrived as well They remained at altitude in case they were needed. They extra drones they recently caspture made it possible.

Savannah went about inspecting each of the Terminators as they flew. It appeared Cameron and her surviving Terminator warrior were the most heavily damaged. It figured. They were actually in the battle the longest. Savannah was willing to bet Cameron's Terminator warrior was 'her' as well. The way it fought seemed to prove it.

Savannah finally sat down between Cameron and Cammy. She silently took each of their hands as they flew home….

It created a calming effect for all three of them. It also gave them time to think.

John assembled a team to be ready to start the repairs for the damaged Terminators when they arrived. Sarah, Vanna, Jesse, Cam, and Ally were all there.

Kyle and Derek were out on a recon with Bob and Jim. They headed back as well. John Henry told them to use extra caution due to all the Skynet related activity they came across.

They never knew what the last vestige of the primitive, and juvenile Skynet mainframe may have enacted before it was disconnected from the 'world' and eventually terminated.

The Blackhawk let Cameron's group off. They headed into the base. All of them wore soot laden, bloody, ripped and torn clothes.

Savannah looked the same but most of it was Terminator 'blood'. She was covered with grime and soot from the wall collapse and fire. Her hair and skin was a dirty gray and black color, as were most of the Terminators.

They looked like a ragged group as they approached.

Savannah was a little concerned about past events. She figured the current event wouldn't play out any differently. She quietly asked Cammy to tell the other Terminators not to 'thank her' for doing her job. She did nothing more than any of them. She didn't do anything any of them would have done under the same circumstances. She was a team member and did her job like they did. She didn't like the extra attention, especially when the Terminators were all damaged.

John was there to greet them and to look over Cameron and Savannah.

Cameron greeted John and told him she was functional. She didn't want any extra attention, anymore than Savannah did.

"OK, I get it." John said. "Check on my troops first."

Savannah knew Cameron wanted to be 'worked on' last. She worked with Cammy and Cameron to get Gail patched up and the others. Cameron's Terminator needed the most work with Cameron second.

Savannah looked over Cameron's Terminator once he was repaired.

"Cameron, does he have a name?" Savannah asked.

Cameron felt a glitch impulse with Savannah's question. It was something personal to her. In fact, she tried to make it as impersonal as possible.

"No. I don't want to name them, or even give them designations." Cameron said. "I don't want to deal with the loss of them falling in combat. I lost one today…."

Savannah knew every machine was more than a machine to Cameron. The fact they brought back the HK Tread and several HK Tracks was proof of it. It was very personal to Cameron. She felt it was prudent to give Cameron a reminder about the future, her future.

"It sounds like Future John before you were sent to protect John in 1999." Savannah said. "You're attempting to isolate yourself…."

Savannah learned to never say 'sent away' as it would cause Cameron to start to glitch. It always reminded her she wasn't 'good enough' for Future John to keep.

Cameron didn't want to discuss it. Savannah wasn't going to push it until Cameron was patched up.

After a few hours they were finished with everyone except Cameron and Cammy. Cam asked everyone to leave. John put up the usual protest, but knew not to push it or Cameron would leave. Vanna didn't want to go. Savannah didn't plan to leave.

Earlier Gail, Ally, and Steve returned with several deactivated Terminators, one of them was female.

Cameron looked very nervous. It was clear she was ready to glitch out. Everyone was repaired except Cammy and her. She didn't want Savannah to see her.

"Savannah, I need you and Vanna to go please, for me." Cameron said. "I'm damaged…."

Savannah and Vanna looked at each other. It was something new. They were there specifically to repair Cameron's damage. It was something they always did, especially Vanna. Vanna repaired Cameron's damage from the first day she saw her.

Cameron could see their concern. It was only overshadowed by their love for her. Still it was very personal to her at this point.

"Please, don't ask." Cameron said. "Cam and Cammy will make the repairs."

Vanna was ready to go. Savannah wasn't.

"OK, Cameron, but we won't be far." Vanna said. "I understand…."

Vanna went to leave but Savannah didn't. She wasn't about to abandon Cameron in her time of personal need. She didn't know what it was, but she knew there was something major wrong. She didn't inspect Cameron in detail when she first found her. She knew about the damage to her back with the metal showing. She didn't think the front side was too damaged. Wait. Things started to click in her mind. Something ate at her deeply as well.

Savannah remembered the bloody pants Cameron wore and the pair of shredded bloody pants on the floor of the 'Clean Room'. She didn't understand it at all. Cameron never 'sent her away' like this before. Something was wrong….

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Daily Torture

I must seem confusing
The chaos in my head
It will be better for all
When I am dead

The sewer of my mind
Seems to hurt all
I relish its destruction
So evil so small

Everything seems normal
The images before my eyes
Such pain such destruction
I can't hear the cries

Others may contribute
Our own minds do the damage
Nothing can ever repair it
Add yet another bandage

Life has no meaning
Tomorrow no future
Can comfort ever exist
In life's daily torture

Nobody