Chapter 536

Bad To Worse

Savannah entered the target area, Cameron was at her side.

Everything was smooth so far. Any of the enemy which was encountered, was taken down silently. It almost seemed things were too quiet.

"I would have expected stronger resistance." Savannah said.

Cameron thought about it. There were a couple of factors which were in their favor. They held the element of surprise. There was no outside communication. All of the terminations so far were quiet. It still seemed rather easy.

"I would have too." Cameron said. "It seems there should be some type of organized resistance by now."

John and John Henry were worried about it as well.

Everything changed soon enough.

They heard shooting in one part of the building, and then in another part. It was evident the opposition began to increase.

Savannah looked in the direction of the new gunfire.

"I guess I spoke too soon." Savannah said.

Cameron wasn't so sure. She began to question a number of things. She thought about Savannah's earlier observation.

"Maybe they wanted to draw us in." Cameron said. "I think you're correct about more going on here than meets the eye."

Savannah remembered her earlier fears.

"This may be a trap." Savannah said. "How is everyone doing? I haven't heard of any difficulties."

Savannah checked on all her team members.

John Henry monitored everything. He provided Savannah with the information she requested. He was able to view their body cams. He could see what they saw.

"All personnel are accounted for and functioning at one hundred percent." John Henry reported.

Savannah was a little concerned about the wording in his report. She wasn't sure as to what the damage was to anyone. She needed to remember Terminators could function with a lot of damage.

Reports began to come in as to records and hard drives seized. Some Coltan was located. There were ingots as well as some pieces ready for machining. The enemy seemed to fade away again.

Savannah went over the goals of the mission. The thing they wanted to know the most is where they obtained the Coltan from. It was something very important going forward. As long as the enemy possessed a source of Coltan, the production of HK equipment would continue.

"We want all the threats neutralized, to take control of their electronic and paper records, and their supplies of Coltan." Savannah said. "So far we have accomplished those things."

Savannah knew all the information would need to be processed. It was a time consuming process. It was something they did for all captured enemy equipment from hard drives to phones.

Cameron could see Savannah wasn't satisfied with their goals so far. She wanted to know what other things they needed to look for.

"What else is it?" Cameron asked. "Is there something else?"

Savannah hadn't been able to place it since they arrived. It was a very uneasy feeling from the moment they entered the building. She normally wasn't part of such a direct confrontation with the enemy. She thought it might be her perception of the events.

"Things here seem off." Savannah said. "Then again, I guess it always does. I know every operation is different, even if they're more or less all the same."

The shooting started again. It was closer now.

Savannah switched to her M4 from her silenced pistol and Taser. They hadn't encountered any Skynet Terminators yet. It sounded like more Grays and they were close.

Cameron was ready for them.

"They should be right around the corner." Cameron whispered.

Savannah spotted a target. She fired half a magazine from her M4. She saw she scored hits on a Gray. He went down.

Cameron opened up as well on another target. He dodged off to the side after a few shots. She anticipated his next move. When he sprang up again to fire at them, she hit him in the upper torso with three rounds. He fell back out of view.

Savannah replaced her magazine with a full one. They continued to move forward….

They moved closer to the two fallen Grays.

Savannah wasn't sure if they were both dead. She pumped a single shot into the head of both of the downed Grays as they passed. It was the only way to be sure.

Cameron watched and nodded. It was one of her goals to teach both Savannah and Young Allison to make sure the enemy was down when they passed them. There were always a few individuals who may have received a number of rounds and still be in the fight. They might go down with the initial damage, but would still be able to muster some type of response before they succumbed to the full extent of their wounds. It was possible to be shot behind from an enemy who was believed to have been terminated.

Holly was back near the strike zone. She was closest to the machine shop. It was her first objective. Savannah asked her to do a wide recon around the area. They wanted to make sure no one slipped out, or any reinforcements were on the way. There could always be something happening which they couldn't detect right away. The enemy was as elusive as it was deadly. Nothing could be left to chance.

She did a wide recon around the machine shop Cammy's team was at. She heard reports the resistance was light. There were two drones on station and nothing was detected.

Holly headed for the primary target. It was a small foundry. She thought she caught some movement near the ground. She was midway between the two targets. She quickly contacted John Henry.

"Is there anything in the air besides our drones?" Holly asked.

John Henry checked all the radar imagery. There were only five objects detected on several radar screens.

"Nothing is observed except the two drones at each location and you." John Henry said.

Holly went in for a closer look.

She decided to come in on a wider sweep to the small foundry. She noticed something below her off to the side. The objects moved rapidly. She did see something. They were right on the deck, just feet above the terrain. It wasn't what she wanted to see. She immediately engaged her weapons systems.

"I have two hostile HK drones moving very, very low to the ground." Holly reported.

John and John Henry both checked everything again. It sounded like bad news.

"We haven't detected them as of yet." John Henry said. "They must be right on the deck. They're not our drones."

John was extremely concerned about their troops on the ground.

"I want them brought down before they even get close to either building." John said.

John Henry was always concerned about collateral damage.

"There are open areas where it can be done without any problems." John Henry said. "Their low altitude will probably present some initial problems with targeting."

John wanted those at the target locations protected.

"Holly, bring them down as soon as it's clear." John said.

Holly tried for a lock on them. It was difficult to get a good lock. She made some adjustments to her equipment. She was too far away for the minigun to be used. She would need to close the distance some more.

"I should be able to bring them down shortly." Holly said. "They won't have far to fall."

Savannah recognized it for the bad news it was. There was bound to be more than two HK drones headed their way. She gave the order to scramble the Blackhawk. She changed the mission of their four drones from air support of the troops on the ground, to air to air combat. Anything which didn't squawk their transponder code was a legitimate target once visual confirmation was obtained. She needed to make a hard choice. Visual confirmation might not always be possible.

"I want all four drones in 'air to air' combat mode." Savannah said. "I want one at each location to go high and the other to prepare for an immediate engagement. All weapons are to be hot. I would like for there to be a visual confirmation if possible. Anything within a quarter of a mile of either location is to be brought down with or without a visual sighting."

Holly was able to clear the ground clutter. The targets were acquired with good 'tone'.

"I have the targets locked." Holly reported. "They are two miles out and closing fast."

Savannah needed to worry about collateral damage. There were structures scattered around the area. She heard John's earlier rules of engagement. She wanted to reaffirm them as well as hers.

"Holly, as soon as there's little below them in the way of structures, flame them." Savannah said. "We don't know what type of ordinance they're armed with."

Holly could see where the targets were. They were still right on the deck. She saw it was clear. She took the shot.

"Two missiles are away." Holly reported. "The track on them is good. I see two explosions."

A few seconds later she added.

"Scratch two. There are two smoking holes in the ground." Holly said. "Neither one of them attempted to take any type of evasive action before they were hit. Because they didn't have far to fall, they look relatively intact, but thoroughly inoperable."

Savannah specifically brought Stinger crews with each team to both locations. She wanted to be ready for any HK drones which might slip through. The fact the drones were so low to the ground indicated the enemy wanted to avoid detection and suspected the HK drones would be tracked. They didn't account for downward looking radar to specifically search for low flying objects. It didn't matter how low they were, they could still be detected, even if they first showed up as anomalies.

"I want the Stinger crews to stand ready." Savannah said. "All personnel need to be prepared to seek cover. Everyone else can continue their assignments."

Holly gained some altitude. She wanted to be able to observe a wider area. One alarm went off, followed by a second one. She was 'painted' somehow. Something streaked towards her. She immediately deployed her countermeasures and turned sharply to throw off the track of the missile. She was able to observe the missile pass through the location where she was at only one second ago. She was able to move far enough away not to trigger a proximity fuse, if there was one.

"I've been targeted." Holly reported. "Countermeasures away, a missile just missed me."

John Henry tried to find out how any of the HK drones avoided detection. There were multiple targets now. There were also missiles fired at their drones. They all deployed countermeasures. One of the enemy attacks scored. Multiple warnings were indicated by the drone affected. It didn't receive a direct hit, but suffered shrapnel damage from a proximity fuse of the missile fired.

"Our drone high over the foundry has engaged two drones." John Henry reported. "One target was destroyed, one has gotten away. Our drone is damaged. It must withdraw. It's conducting further analysis of its damage. It may not make it."

Savannah didn't want an HK drone to follow their drone back to their base. There was a contingency plan for such an event. It was possible it would result in their drone being attacked a second time before it reached its alternate location. There was also the possibility it wouldn't be able to make it to the alternate location. They couldn't take any chances.

"Have it proceed to the remote location." Savannah ordered. "Don't have it return to base."

Holly closed up on the earlier engagement. She spotted the HK drone which escaped. She locked it up two seconds later. She fired another missile.

"I have engaged and defeated a third HK drone." Holly reported. "I believe it was the one which targeted me. I don't know where the attack actually came from."

John Henry looked at John with the latest report from Holly. It wasn't good news. They thought they were 'one up' on HK drones when it came to aerial engagement.

"Previously all HK drones have only been equipped for ground assault." John Henry said. "None of them possessed air to air capability, other than to use their minigun."

John thought about the missile fired at Holly. She was able to avoid it by a wide margin. It made him wonder about the type of missile actually used.

"Could it have fired an air to ground missile at Holly?" John asked.

John Henry knew it was a possibility. It was also a long shot, in more than one way.

"Yes." John Henry said. "It missed. It's all that matters."

One of the teams on the ground spotted another HK drone low on the ground. It was immediately engaged.

"A new target has been acquired, Stinger away." Al reported. "Scratch one."

Savannah was worried because the HK drones were able to get in so close. One of their drones was damaged. Holly was almost hit as well. So far the HK drone attack was unlike any they ever experienced before. She didn't know if the threat was over.

"Are there any other HK drones?" Savannah asked. "They know we can track them."

There was some movement near Savannah inside the foundry. A new target appeared off to the side of Savannah before anyone could answer her.

Savannah fired her M4 and scored. She then fired a second time. The bolt locked open. She hit the magazine release and inserted a new magazine. She hit the bolt release. She was good to go again. She was still worried they were all being set up.

"Holly, watch for a trap." Savannah said.

Cameron engaged two targets off to the other side when Savannah fired on her targets. She was impressed Savannah never paused in her conversation. She would have to commend Sarah again for her training of Savannah.

A new threat reared it ugly head. It was what they were expecting all along, Skynet Terminators.

"Metal!" Cameron said. "There are…."

All communications went out….

It wasn't the news they wanted to hear in the Command Center. First it was HK drones, now there were Terminators.

John and John Henry heard there were enemy Terminators spotted, and then all communications were lost. Somehow all of their systems were blocked. It was something new. They always controlled the narrative before as far as communications went. They previously cut all Skynet communication at the two target areas. Now they were blocked.

"What just happened?" John asked.

John Henry knew they were blocked, but he didn't know how. He couldn't get a signal in or out around the foundry. There was no way to contact anyone near the foundry.

"We're being jammed somehow." John Henry said.

John couldn't believe they lost contact without any warning.

"Do you have contact with anyone at the foundry at all?" John asked.

John Henry checked everywhere. It wasn't just the foundry where communications were lost.

"Negative." John Henry said. "I've lost contact with everyone around the area of the foundry."

John feared the worst. It could be an EMP attack. With Skynet Terminators spotted it seemed unlikely. They could have also been bait. It was a grim prospect to consider. All of their troops were Terminators. They would all be affected. Savannah was the only human present at the foundry. There were no humans at the machine shop.

"What are we facing?" John asked. "Depending upon the nature of the attack, things may look bad for us."

John Henry knew it was the unknown.

"There's no way to tell yet." John Henry said.

John wanted his troops out of there. He wanted an immediate withdrawal from the area.

"Issue a recall." John said.

John Henry tried.

"There's no response." John Henry said.

John hoped Holly was unaffected.

"Holly, relay a recall if possible." John said.

There was nothing but silence.

Cammy picked up on the problem. It was very concerning to her. She needed to take into account it could happen at her location as well.

"I've lost contact with Savannah." Cammy said. "I can't reach anyone around the foundry either."

John was glad they still had some contact.

"We're jammed too." John said.

John Henry checked a few things with Cammy.

"It's just the foundry and surrounding area." John Henry said.

Cammy felt things were under control at her location. She immediately redeployed some of her force.

"We've finished up at the machine shop." Cammy reported. "Two thirds of my team are headed to the foundry already. The rest will gather the information and materials from here and torch the place. How extensive is the communications loss?"

"Affirmative…." John Henry reported. "I've lost contact with the foundry and the drone, as well as Holly."

Cammy knew it was extensive. She wanted to give some extra protection to Savannah's team.

"Take both of our drones and see what's happening there." Cammy said. "They may need to withdraw if they start to get jammed. We don't want to lose them too. They can operate autonomously."

John Henry sent the two drones from the machine shop. It took a few minutes.

John was very concerned about the foundry and those in it.

"We need to find out what's happening." John said. "Make sure we don't lose the drones."

"The two drones from the machine shop are near the area of the foundry." John Henry said. "I may need to prevent them from going too close. I will attempt to determine the extent of the jamming field."

They soon lost contact with the two drones, but regained it as they flew into and then out of the affected area. There was some kind of jamming field in place. It did have a boundary. One drone began mapping its perimeter. The other drone sought out targets.

"The damaged drone has returned to the fight. It still has use of the 'gun'. When it flew out of the jamming field I updated it. It chose to re-engage any threats." John Henry reported. "The four drones are operating autonomously off the programming from Cameron and myself now. I believe it is the best course of action related to the circumstances. They will engage any threats. If the drones are operational inside the jamming field, so should the rest of our personnel."

John was glad to know it wasn't an EMP of some type. The indication was their Terminators should still be in the fight. His earlier thought was they were all down. He pictured Savannah fighting alone. It gave him a very sick feeling inside to think about it. He knew she wouldn't leave her troops or Cameron. He wanted his troops out of the area.

"This just went from bad to worse." John said very worried. "Savannah, withdraw…."

There was still no answer.

Cameron spotted two enemy Terminators. One of them caught her eye more than the other.

"There are Skynet Terminator's here.." Cameron said. "There are two who have joined the fight. I don't know where they came from. One is a 'Metal Bitch'. I want her."

Savannah lost contact with the Resistance base, the machine shop, and everyone else at or around the foundry, including Holly.

"I've lost all communications." Savannah said.

Cameron checked her coms. It was evident we were being jammed. There were contingency plans in place.

"I have too." Cameron said. "It's some type of jamming field. Everyone now needs to follow the plan."

Savannah couldn't reach anyone. She wanted to retreat under the unknown threat. She didn't want some energy field to build up and render the Terminators inoperable. It could be some type of energy force with a cumulative effect.

"I want them to withdraw." Savannah said. "We don't know how much worse the jamming field will become. I've lost contact with our drones. We don't know what's happening outside or headed in our direction anymore."

Cameron was aware things like this happened in the future. It was what the plan was for.

"Everyone knows their job." Cameron reported. "They'll finish it first. I haven't been affected in any way, nor can I detect any type of threat against me. The enemy Terminators would be affected as well if there was a further threat."

Cameron was off to the side of Savannah.

Bullets began impacting around Cameron. Savannah turned and fired. She scored hits. It was a Terminator. She concentrated her fire on one leg. She disabled him and watched him topple over. He struggled to get up. She armed a Thermite grenade. She waited a few seconds and threw it. It exploded right above the struggling Terminator's head. It thrashed around violently for a few seconds. It now lay there unmoving as it burned. The head took most of the damage. The chip was damaged or destroyed.

Cameron moved to engage the two Terminators she spotted. Savannah covered Cameron's six as they advanced.

Savannah knew Cameron was in too big of a hurry to go after the female Terminator. She thought Cameron should have gone wide around the machinery. It would have given her a better view.

Cameron turned quickly to go around a large piece of machinery. It was a blind spot. Savannah saw Cameron get grabbed. They were waiting for her. She checked behind her and moved to assist Cameron. She pulled out her Taser. She knew she was going to need to get in close to bring the enemy down.

Savannah was shocked at what she saw as she made a wide turn around the equipment.

The male Terminator held Cameron. She was pinned as the female Terminator tore into Cameron's sheath. She wasn't sure if she tried to rupture her power cell or not. Maybe she just wanted to pull it out. Cameron was now offline.

Savannah fired her Taser twice. The 'Metal Bitch' went down.

The male Terminator saw Savannah as a threat. He flung Cameron at Savannah. She dodged as Cameron slammed into another piece of machinery. Her Taser was knocked out of her hand when she dodged Cameron being thrown at her like a rag doll.

The male Terminator headed towards Savannah. She brought her M4 up and emptied most of the magazine into its legs. He fell to his knees, but continued to advance. He was almost to her.

He made a lunge for Savannah. He grabbed her M4. She fired off the last of the magazine into his arm as the M4 was pulled from her grip. The arm of the Terminator fell with it. She just blew it off as he grabbed her weapon.

The Terminator looked at its shoulder missing the arm and made another grab at Savannah. She rolled away and came back up to her feet as she moved behind him. She pulled her silenced pistol and emptied the magazine into his head. The Coltan rounds found their mark. He slumped slightly backwards still on his knees, his head leaned at a crazy angle off to the side. It was a very disturbing sight.

Savannah saw Cameron's M4 and picked it up. The 'Metal Bitch' was gone. She rebooted and moved away. She quickly looked around for her. She saw the 'Metal Bitch' went over to where Cameron was flung. She was about to rip Cameron's head off. She put both her feet on Cameron's shoulders and started to pull on her head to tear it off.

She needed to protect Cameron. She screamed as she ran forward firing her M4. The 'Metal Bitch' looked up at the Banshee sound. She fired the M4 and struck the 'Metal Bitch'. The 'Metal Bitch' let go of Cameron's head and came after Savannah. She headed straight for her.

Savannah held her ground and fired again. The 'Metal Bitch' staggered but continued towards her. Her left foot drug behind her and left arm flopped uselessly.

She still possessed mobility, speed, and agility. The dance lessons from Cameron really paid off now for evasive movement. She moved around the 'Metal Bitch' back to Cameron and came up with Cameron's Taser. She fired it twice. The 'Metal Bitch' fell at her feet as her right hand grabbed her. She dodged again as the 'Metal Bitch' impacted the floor.

Savannah reloaded her M4 as she searched for additional targets. She quickly checked on the other two Terminators and both were still down. They were terminated.

She found her Taser and holstered it. She held Cameron's Taser and M4. She moved to check on Cameron, she was still off line. Her torso was a bloody mess. It was shredded and torn open.

Savannah listened and it was quiet now. The firing elsewhere stopped. She moved forward and cut open the chip port of 'Metal Bitch'. She pulled the chip out. It self destructed. She wanted to run her knife across the cheek of the 'Metal Bitch' and slice open a deep wound down to the metal. She refrained from the act of vengeance.

She moved back to Cameron. There was a noise off to her side. She brought the M4 up with her right hand and the Taser in her left hand. It appeared as if things just went from bad to worse.

It was more Metal….

Savannah was in a fight for a life. She was fighting for Cameron, not for herself.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Bad To Worse

Most people think the grass is greener
On the other side of the hill
Perhaps the journey there
Is what's the real thrill

It's all a matter of perception
The ignorance of recognizing fact
It's the blind leading the blind
It's often done without tact

Few are content with what they have
No matter how much it is
It's never enough for long
They quickly fail life's quiz

Just a little bit more
Is never enough when it occurs
What now belongs to them
Was once his, hers or yours

Enjoy what life can offer
Don't waste time to curse
Everyone needs to remember
Everything goes from bad to worse

Nobody