Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
A/N: This chapter has heavy revisions as well,
I was unsatisfied with the original.
Chapter 12: ...Often Go Awry
April 20, 2029, 0900 hours. Business district.
John Connor stared through his binoculars intensely as he observed the convoy below.
It was heavily armed, not unusual, moving at a slow pace through a choke point, now that was. The convoy consisted of two hyperalloy armored trucks that were set on high speed track treads along with an Ogre, a Centurion and a squad of T-888s with a new model in the lead. It appeared to be a T-900 with red glowing accents.
That spelled bad news for them, if Skynet had started mass producing it, they wouldn't stand a chance.
He zoomed in a little closer and saw that the leader had a some sort of device strapped to it's back that had a tube running a gun in it's hand. It looked like a flame thrower. In it's other it carried the standard plasma rifle, which the rest of the squad was dual wielding.
Skynet was up to something, but he wasn't sure what.
"This certainly is strange". A Scottish voice said quietly from seemingly nowhere.
"Yeah, something's wrong with all this, especially the squad leader". He said back just as quietly.
"A T-900, carrying an unknown weapon attached to an armored backpack. That certainly is bad news".
John just nodded as he put the binoculars back up to his eyes for a few more seconds before setting them down. He let out a long sigh as he rubbed his eyes in frustration.
Nothing was ever straight forward with Skynet.
"They're baiting us". John said as he grimaced. "Nothing they're doing makes any sense otherwise".
"I concur John, but we both know that your base will not last long without supplies".
"I know that Weaver, but we don't have a choice". He said somberly as he began descending the pile of concrete.
Allison was the first to greet him at the bottom.
"What's the situation"? She asked as she stopped in front of him.
"There's a new metal leading that squad of T-888s. Besides that the formation is standard". He said as they walked back into the partially collapsed building where the squad was waiting.
"Listen up, we got a typical convoy, but they've got a new metal heading up their guard, it's also carrying some kind of weapon, possibly a flamethrower".
Some of his men squirmed at that, Skynet flamethrowers were bad news.
"There also baiting us, they're moving through a choke point at too slow of a pace to be anything else". He said as he walked among the eight people he was responsible for.
"We need those supplies John". Allison said desperately. "We'll be living in the dark if we don't".
"I know Allison, which is why we're going to attack". John said as he pulled his rifle off his back. "Allison, Bedell, your teams will move up opposite sides of the street before we take out the Ogre".
"Device sir"? Private Jones said as pulled one out of his jacket pocket. He was the ordinances expert on Allison's team.
John nodded and took the device from him. "Marty, take the detonator and the binoculars, I'll hide the explosive".
Everyone nodded and moved out. John snuck up the street about a hundred feet and placed the device, a T-800 fuel cell with a small C4 charge and a detonator, under a piece of concrete rubble in the center of the street.
He retreated into the building to his left where he knew Allison's team was. They all got behind cover as they waited for Bedell to detonate the device.
The rumble of the Ogre and the trucks drowned out the sound of metal feet walking on concrete as the convoy approached their position. They'd covered their ears long before Bedell blew the Ogre sky high.
The ground shook and plaster fell from the ceiling as the small H-bomb blew the tank into pieces, taking four of the machines with it. The T-900 had survived unscathed, but no one knew that yet due to the amount of dust that had been kicked up by the explosion.
John's squad, however, positioned themselves in behind cover on either side of the street. The first T-888 to show it's metal face got pummeled with plasma from the the four members of Marty Bedell's teams.
The Centurion and the other T-888 left on their side of the street returned fire at their positions, but the team was already on the move.
Allison's team was still lying in wait for their first T-888 to show up, and they didn't have to wait long. John was with them and managed to hit the first one as it spotted them. The shot didn't kill it, but it damaged it's right arm and prevented it from firing, however its left was just fine. John ducked down as the plasma shot over him, prompting the rest of the team to shoot down the machine from their spread out positions, killing the T-888 before it could change targets.
The other T-888 zeroed in on their position and began firing in a sweeping motion. This took one of Allison's team members by surprise, costing him his life as the round vaporized his head.
The others in the group had heard the machine coming and had ducked down just in time.
John turned his head and eyed the dead soldier, it had been Jones. He cursed for a moment before crawling further behind cover before popping up and getting off a few shots at the machine, causing it to change targets and allowing the closer squad members to disable it.
They weren't out of the woods yet, Marty's team was still playing cat and mouse with the their last T-888 and the Centurion had turned it's attention to Allison's team along with the T-900, forcing them to retreat into the building as the four legged machine destroyed their cover.
They went out the back alley to escape the rapid fire volley and regrouped.
"Alright, we're down to three machines, but we need to take out that Centurion first". John said to Allison and her two remaining team members.
"We need to limit it's mobility". Allison said, already having taken one out before.
"Yes, concentrate your fire on its hip joints, once they seize, we take out its eyes and weapons". John commanded just as Marty radioed back in.
"We got that T-888, but that new metal and the Centurion have us pinned down".
"Understood". John radioed back and explained the plan to them as he and Allison moved into position.
They popped out of cover and began shooting at the two hip joints closest to them which drew the machines attention, which made them drop behind their thick cover as the megawatt plasma pummeled it.
Meanwhile, Weaver was biding her time and waited for the opportune moment to strike while everyone was distracted. She and John had agreed long ago that her discovery would be bad if either by the machines or the resistance.
She slithered through the rubble as a very thin snake, she began closing in the Centurion, but eyeing the T-900 at the same time. Once she was close enough, she grabbed two rifles off one of the downed T-888s and began firing at the joint closest to her, but she remained in a disguised state, posing a rubble supporting two rifles that just happened to be firing.
This confused the Centurion, but it could only lock onto so many targets at once and so chose to fire on John and Allison's position. The T-900, however, had noticed it and went to investigate while still providing reasonable cover fire for the Centurion. It's advanced optics focused on the area where the two rifles were firing and performed a thermal scan.
What it found triggered a directive.
TARGET IDENTIFIED:
UNKNOWN MIMETIC POLY ALLOY ENTITY
ACTION: CAPTURE
CHARGING WEAPON...
The machine targeted the camouflaged MPA machine with it's targeting reticle and prepared to fire it's weapon.
Weaver noticed the activity and quickly turned one of her weapons toward the T-900, knowing her cover had been blown.
She leapt up as a shapeless silver mass with one weapon finishing off the Centurion's hip joint while the other swung to lock onto the T-900. Weaver managed to get three shots off at it before it returned fire with it's unknown weapon.
There was no time to move as the bolt of blue energy shot from the weapon and streaked toward her at speeds exceeding that of sound. It slammed into her center of mass with little force.
She was confused for a second, but only one. Weaver quickly realized that she had been found out long before this battle, and Skynet had deemed her a threat.
It had created a weapon capable of shooting liquid helium encased in low energy plasma. She instantly felt the effects of the liquid as it coated her outermost layers, causing them to freeze almost instantly.
She tried to separate from her frozen parts, but the machine fired again and again until she felt her entire being solidifying. There was no escape, her only chance was that John would keep them from capturing her.
Hope briefly flared in her before she shut down when she saw the Centurions hip joint explode, causing it to collapse.
John had mentally cursed when he witnessed what happened, but he seemed to be the only one that had noticed. Everyone else was busy finishing off the Centurion who had just fallen to the ground.
The big machine exploded when one of them breached the armor and hit a plasma conduit.
When the smoke and dust cleared, the machine was destroyed, but the T-900 was still around and approaching Weaver's position. Now the others took notice of the frozen silver statue.
"What the hell is that"? Allison asked him as she eyed the spectacle with curiosity and wariness.
John just gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. He couldn't let Skynet capture her, that would only allow it to unleash a new terror on mankind.
"Something we can't let them have". He said through gritted teeth and radioed Bedell's group.
"Bedell, what's your status"?
"We're fine, no casualties sir, but what the hell is that silver thing"?
"Something we can't let Skynet have, everyone fire on that T-900"! He yelled and put his radio away before he began firing at the heavily armored endo that was only a few feet from Weaver's position.
"How do you know that"? Allison yelled above the shrill whine of the rifles as they began pelting the machine with concentrated plasma fire. It stopped for a moment and returned fire before taking cover.
That took a few of the squad by surprise, since when did metal take cover?
John didn't care, he already knew that Terminators weren't completely stupid when it came to overwhelming odds. It peaked out of it's cover long enough to fire both it's weapons, the plasma at Bedell's team and the freeze gun on Allison's.
John dove to the ground and took Allison with him as the blue bolt soared over their heads and impacted on the building behind him, causing it to ice over almost instantly. Both of them could feel the air chill around them as the liquid helium soaked up the ambient heat.
One of Allison's team members got off a lucky shot and took out one of the T-900's eyes. This momentarily disoriented it and allowed for everyone to concentrate their fire once more before it recovered.
The squad managed to damage one of it's shoulders before it returned fire, taking out one of Bedell's men with a hit to the chest.
The machine knew it wasn't going to last long, so it decided to call in backup before it was deactivated. It barely had time to send the command before it's neck armor was breached and it's head was subsequently blown off.
It's body collapsed to the ground while it's head rolled away towards John's position. He radioed Bedell to stay put while he and Allison checked to make sure it was dead.
The two left cover and kept their rifles at the ready. They passed the still frozen Weaver, which Allison spared a brief glance, as they neared the head. John knelt and brought out a screwdriver he kept with him at all times. He popped off the port cover and used a pair of pliers to pull out the chip. It looked more advanced than a T-888, but not as advanced as Cameron's had been.
He felt a pang of emotion at the memory, but pushed it aside as he pocketed it. He sounded the all clear before telling the remaining men to collect the rifle magazines and to remove the T-888 power cells. Every team member had been trained on how to quickly remove a breast plate from multiple models and which ones to avoid if they had damage.
John and Allison worked together as they melted the edges of armored breastplate with their rifles before prying it off with tools. Then they got to work at salvaging whatever power cells it had.
Instead they found a plasma reactor in it's chest. John smiled when he explained to Allison what it was before he carefully extracted it. It took about ten minutes after the battle had ended for the squad to clean out the T-888s and T-900 of power cells.
John turned around and noticed that Weaver was still frozen solid and that some of the soldiers were looking at it strangely.
They broke into the cargo trucks, only to find them empty, save for some some strange looking device that looked like a cold storage freezer.
"What is going on here"? Marty asked as he walked up to John. "You seem to know what the hell these things are".
"Yeah, how did you know what that new metal was"? Allison asked with her head slightly tilted as she slung a bag over her shoulders.
John mentally cursed himself at the slip up, but right now he didn't have time to explain himself, he was betting money that this had all been an elaborate trap to get Weaver and he was betting that backup was on it's way.
"Not now, we need to get out of here before backup arrives". He said tried to get people to leave, but was interrupted by the whine of an HK descending from the sky at high speed.
John quickly ordered everyone to hide as the monstrous HK stopped right above the decimated convoy. Suddenly a few dozen T-900s dropped from the HK and landed on the ground around them. They began exchanging fire, two people were killed off the bat as the rest of them scrambled into the ruins for cover. John was next to Allison and Marty Bedell. He tossed the bag containing the plasma reactor to him and told him and Allison to run while he covered them. Marty took off into the building next to them, but Allison refused to leave and pulled John down when the machines turned to fire on him.
"I'm not leaving you here John". She said as she rolled off of him and returned fire, cursing as her rifle failed to penetrate the machines armor. John joined her after getting back up.
"Are you crazy? We can't beat them with these weapons"! He yelled as more machines turned their attention towards them, forcing them behind cover. Before he ducked he noticed the some of the T-900s quickly surrounding Weaver and assumed they'd put her frozen form into one of the freezers he'd seen.
He never got a chance to check because the machines did something they had never done before.
They tossed a stun grenade right into their cover. Before either of them could grab it, the device went off and sent them both into unconsciousness.
The machines stopped firing and surrounded them. They disarmed them both and put them into the functional cargo truck. They locked the doors after cuffing them to the walls.
John didn't regain consciousness for nearly two hours.
It took a moment to recovered from the residual headache before he actually dared to open his eyes. When he did, the only light in what he assumed to be a cargo truck came from the freezing equipment in the back. He tried to move but found that his hands were cuffed to the wall. He began trying to reach one of the tools he could feel in his pocket, but stopped when he heard Allison coughing again. The sound reminded him of someone who'd died of cancer back when he and his mother lived in the jungle, and that only made him worry more for her. She wasn't far from him, but he could see that she too was in cuffs. As his eyes adjusted to the dim room, he could see that she was curled up on the on the floor as her small frame shook violently from each cough.
"Allison". His called out, his tone filled with worry. "Allison, are you okay"?
"Am I okay? John nothing in this whole damn world is okay"! She shouted in a hoarse voice before she suscumed to another coughing fit.
"You're sick aren't you"? He ignored her retort and focused on the only member of his squad left.
"Yes". Her voice was still rough, and there was only a little water left in his canteen. He managed to unclip it and hand it to her.
Allison accepted it gratefully and took a gulp. "Thank you".
She sat up while John tried to find tried to reach his tools in his pants pockets, but he couldn't reach that far.
"You know where they're taking us right"? John couldn't miss the worry in Allison's voice.
"Probably Century". He said as he sat back down next to her. "I should have gotten us out there sooner". A heavy sigh left his lungs as he leaned against the wall.
"Maybe, but we'd be living in the dark if we had".
"Yeah... I know. If it hadn't been for those 900s"! John pounded his fist against metal wall in anger.
"How did you know"? Allison questioned. "How did you know what they were"? Confusion filled her voice, like it often did when something about him came up.
She couldn't see John wince at his slip up, but she knew that he did. Allison let out an audible sigh, she was getting tired of his secrets.
"Are you gonna keep playing this... this... mystery man? Are you ever going to open up to me? To anyone"? Every word she spoke conveyed her pent up frustration with him.
"Allison... If I told you my story you wouldn't believe me". John tried to explain, but she was persistent.
"Listen to me, there aren't many people I trust John, but I trust you".
John's head dipped in shame when she said that. She trusted him and yet he lied to her all the time. She trusted him and now her trust was going to get her killed.
"You shouldn't". He said quietly. "I'm not worth your trust".
Allison didn't know where this self loathing was coming from, but it had to be more than just him leading them all into a trap.
"Why, are you working for them"? She probed him just like she used to, and she got the same response as then.
"No". John's voice was dripping with contempt for the Greys and anger at the accusation.
"You've never tried to hurt me or anyone I know, you kill metal and protect our base. Why shouldn't I trust you"?
John didn't know what to say to that at first, but finally he said the only thing he could.
"Cause I lie to you, I lie to Derek and Kyle. I lie to all of you".
He waited for her yell at him and what not, but it never came.
"I know". Allison's voice was low.
"Then why do you trust me"? John just couldn't understand why she would.
"I don't know why, I just do". She coughed again before leaning back against the wall breathless. "John, all I'm asking is to know something about you that isn't a lie, I'm not asking for a complete history".
John stayed silent, not because he wanted to keep secrets, but because he really didn't know what to say.
"Couldn't you just grant a dying girl her wish"? Allison said in a fit of frustration as she leaned away from him.
"Don't say that". John's voice heavy with emotion. "I can't... I can't lose anyone else I care about".
"Oh? So you do care? I wouldn't have known with the way you lie to me all the time".
"Allison... please, you don't understand".
"Then make me understand Connor". She challenged him as she fixed him a glare he could almost feel.
John took a deep breath and did so.
"Fine, ask me something and I promise I won't lie".
Allison's face showed surprise, and John knew it despite being in the dark.
"You'll tell the truth"?
"Yeah".
Allison let the shock finish washing over her before she asked him the main thing that had been on her mind.
"What was that metal thing that got frozen? You knew what it was just like the you knew the 900s".
John let out a shaky breath, unsure how to answer her at first.
"Catherine Weaver".
"Who's that"? She asked as she leaned her tired body against the wall.
"The metal you saw get frozen". His tone was even and serious, and she could tell he was being truthful. Before she could even respond he added onto what he said. "She doesn't work for Skynet".
Allison's jaw hung open for a moment as she let that bit of info sink in.
"How... how long have we had metal in our base"?
"Since the moment you found me, she was the reason the dogs were barking". John explained calmly.
"John... you should have told us! What if we'd have caught you two together? We'd have killed you"!
"Allison, she's a shapeshifter".
Well if things couldn't get more crazy than they already were.
"A what"? Her disbelief was evident from her tone.
"T-1001, second generation liquid metal based Terminator. She can make herself imitate anything she touches".
"You know how crazy that sounds John"?
"Which is why I kept it a secret". John retorted as the truck came to a stop.
"But I believe you". Her voice conveyed to him she truly did, but as the door unlocked, it changed to one of fear. "I'm scared John".
John touched her arm in a comforting gesture, but honestly, he was scared as she.
"So am I". John admitted as the door opened and revealed two sets of red gleaming eyes.
John and Allison froze as the two T-900's stepped into the truck. Both were armed with a plasma rifle each, the other free to obviously grab them.
They took the cuffs off and dragged them away, causing Allison to scream in fear as the machines took them onto a pier.
"LET ME GO". He struggled with the machine before it casually tossed him to the ground. He got up only for a T-888 to grab him by the collar and hauled him towards an aircraft carrier.
Allison followed only a few feet behind while being push along by another T-888. She was grunting as they pushed her along, causing her to trip right before they made it to the gangway.
"Allison"! He called out as she struggled to stand, but the machine pulled her up and pushed her forward again.
As they were taken through corridor after corridor and up several flights of stairs, John could hear Allison wheezing from the exertion her body could no longer take.
"She's sick, she won't last long if you keep making her walk"! He yelled to the machine still holding him by his collar.
The machine paused for a moment, as did the other before the one guarding Allison picked her up and threw her over its shoulder.
John knew in that moment they wanted them alive to do something, but he didn't know what.
Finally, they made it to a room with several cages in it. Most were filled with people, but a few contained some animals he didn't expect to see around here.
The machine opened one and tossed him in. He quickly recovered, but the machine had already shut the door and was locking it. John expected Allison to be thrown in with him, but they continued on past him down the corridor.
"ALLISON". He yelled, but he knew it was fruitless. She looked back at him one last time with utter fear on her face before he lost sight of her.
John Connor leaned against the wall as tears streamed down his face.
Why did his life have to be such a disaster? Why couldn't he protect anyone he cared about?
How in the hell did anyone think he could ever have been the leader of mankind?
The others in the room didn't bother him as he wept. They had all done so at one point.
Allison found herself shoved into a chair as her captor moved off to the side. The doors were closed and locked, no hope for escape even if she could.
Her condition prevented any reasonable chances for success.
She sat there for a few minutes, a sad frown on her face as she thought about how much her and every human's life sucked. No good food, no clean water, and metal hunting you down.
Even other humans preying on you.
A single tear leaked out of her eye, but wiped it away when another machine walked into the room. She thought it rather small for a T-888, but didn't think about it further when she heard its request.
"Take your clothes off, and then put these on". The machine's voice sounded... feminine in comparison to the others. What really scared her was that none of the other prisoners wore these cheap cotton garments that were way too big for her.
Despite what she thought, she obeyed.
The machine watched her closely as she undressed, and was a little unnerving. When she had finished dressing, she watched as the small machine took her clothes and walked out of the room. The other T-888 told her to sit down once more and she obeyed, still wondering what the hell they were playing at.
Allison sat there, waiting for something to happen. Ten minutes later the smaller machine walked through the door and locked it behind her.
It stood behind the table in front of her and turned on a bright spot light in her eyes.
'Interrogation technique, great'. Allison thought to herself as the machine spoke.
"What is your name"? The mechanical 'female' voice asked as its red eyes stared at her.
"Does it matter? You're going to kill me one way or another". She said as sarcastically as she could.
"If you won't tell me, then I'll give you a more suitable one".
"I can't wait to hear it". She crossed her arms and gave the machine a defiant look.
The big T-888 still standing to the side walked over menacingly and forced her arm onto the table. She gritted her teeth against the pain she knew was coming when the machine brought out the infamous barcode brander.
Allison was strong, but few could stand that kind of pain. She cried out as the machine burned her skin with the laser.
A small tear dripped from her right eye.
When was this hell ever going to end?
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this version better, I certainly did.
Reviews are appreciated.