Behind the battle lines, an APC sped between two buildings before coming to a screeching halt. Against a backdrop of plasma bolts and explosions, Shawn escorted John out of the APC to a collection of ruins with good defensive chokepoints and a view of the battlefield. At his improv command center, other soldiers hastily set up the equipment for computers and communications.
Shawn crouched with John next to some cover. "This is more of what I expected if Skynet is around."
A soldier plugged in the transmitter, causing it to come to life.
"…anybody hear me? This is an SOS. Can anybody hear me?" came the voice.
John instantly recognized the voice. He quickly shuffled over to jump on the radio, saying, "Kate, is that you? Its John! What are you doing, where are you?"
Shawn closed his eyes realizing John's mistake.
Kate had a view of the battle from her spot inside the APC. "Not far I'm guessing. Triangulate my signal. Without giving too much away, we were heading for Skynet from the base. So go in that direction. Wait…did you just use your actual name?"
John chuckled. "That only matters if they're listening," he said. "I'm sure Skynet wasn't counting on this battle. Sit tight, ok. I'll come for ya."
Shawn scurried over to John as he put the radio down and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Are you crazy?" he asked. "Why would you use your actual name?"
John slowly pulled away. "Relax, I'm sure there's a hundred Johns here." He replied.
"That's not the point," Shawn said. "Do you think Skynet cares? You can't possibly go. Skynet isn't dumb, It'll know where to find you."
John grabbed Shawn by the collar to crouch down close to him and speak in a low voice. "You can't go either," he said. "You're needed here and I can't lose her again. I don't even belong here. I'm not the important one here, you are. It doesn't matter what happens to me if we can end this tonight."
Shawn gave John a long look of 'I understand.' "You're not going alone."
"What?" John wondered.
Shawn moved over to the transmitter and turned to John. "I'm going with," he said. "We have other generals here capable of waging this battle," he then turned to the radio and spoke. "Per Football; General Perry, General Perry now has command, repeat, General Perry now has command. Football will be moving on the field," He then looked back and forth between a map and computer for a minute, using his hand to trace a line on the map. "She should be in this area."
John grabbed plasma rifles for him and Shawn, ready to move out, and said."Let's go."
Shawn pointed at two soldiers. "You men, with us," he said.
The APCs and helicopters had to fall in behind the soldiers trying to push forward. They were mostly serving as lines of transfer for supplies and soldiers. On occasion, they served as good, fast-moving targets for any machine that got through.
Quin made his way to the building containing Skynet as quickly as he could. He was just about to enter the building when a new set of commands flashed on his HUD, 'POSSIBLE LOCATION OF JOHN CONNOR' A set of coordinates then appeared. He knew immediately that it led back to APC. 'GROUP 3B SET TRAP AT LOCATION AND WAIT'. 'Oh-no.' He thought. 'TERMINATE ALL HUMANS AFTER MEETING'. To continue wasn't even a question for him.
Shawn led the way around a pile of ruins among the shooting and explosions. The four men then fell in a line against a mound to peek over a see two Terminators marching relentlessly forward as they fired at a different group of soldiers off in the distance. Without saying a word, they each carefully aimed at a Terminator, knowing to pair off depending on how they lay.
The Terminators never noticed the men off to the side. Their focus was ahead on another group of soldiers.
"Keep your heads down," a soldier said. "Perry's orders are to cause enough ruckus to distract the machines for John Connor. Pick your shots from cover or blind fire."
With their focus still facing forward, the two Terminators never knew what hit them as John and the others opened fired to strike them each with a pair of plasma bolts that blew them apart.
Shawn immediately pulled binoculars to scan the immediate area. After a few seconds, he put them away and stepped back down. "Immediate area looks clear of Terminators," he said. "Tank and ariel HKs ahead. We'll try going around them."
"How far to Kate?" John asked.
Shawn fell into cover, pulling John down with him. "Surprisingly, not far at all," he said. "Inside two clicks. If we don't run into much trouble we'll be there within ten minutes. Much of the fighting is off to the side. C'mon."
The group stuck close to each other as they ran from cover to cover, one by one in a close staggered formation. It was a welcome relief when they could use a building, in any condition, to traverse through. Outside, were only piles of dirt, ruins of buildings, or the wreckage of vehicles to hide behind. A flying HK performing a search and destroy sweep began moving towards them.
One of the soldiers in the group was armed with a SAM.
The main battle was now behind them. Shawn had planned not to get the attention of a ground/tank HK patrolling the area. Taking out the ariel meant giving up their location to the tank. Not doing anything was as good as sitting on their hands in the dark, hiding for who knows how long while the ariel HK hovered above them. The situation was only becoming more dangerous as the tank crept closer.
Figuring they would have to deal with the tank HK sooner or later, Shawn signaled the soldier to take the ariel out.
In typical Resistance fashion, the soldier looked around for an optimal spot. The path of the ariel was important. After taking a quick peek, the soldier moved to a spot between two wrecked vehicles in its path and aimed, waiting for the flying HK to get closer. This method was preferred because he was a lone soldier unable to afford a miss. As the searchlight of the HK crossed the first car, the SAM fired off, striking its intended target and sending it down crashing in a fiery explosion.
Shawn turned to the other nearby soldier."You got a canister?"
"Yes, Sir." The soldier answered.
Shawn nodded. "You know what to do." He said.
The soldier who'd fired the SAM knew to stay down, as the tank HK immediately turned and began rolling in his direction. His partner with the canister bomb moved freely, sneaking from one cover to the next until he could slowly creep alongside a wall next to it.
As he neared the end of the wall, the soldier armed his canister bomb and tossed it to the ground directly in front of the tank HK.
Shawn crossed his fingers. "Don't be a dud, please. " he whispered.
Seconds went by when the HK suddenly went up in flames by an explosion that tore it to pieces.
Both soldiers then regrouped by John and Shawn.
"Let's keep moving," Shawn said as he continued to lead the way. It was within minutes that he spotted the APC. He crouched behind a wall and turned to John. "Looks like one of ours," he pointed. "That APC could have a radio and it's in the right place."
John barely gave the surrounding area a second look before brushing past Shawn and running for the APC.
Inside, Ryka began to come around.
"Easy, now," Kate said. "You hit your head something fierce against the bulkhead. Can you stand?"
Ryka slowly sat herself up. "I think so," she responded. "Got a helluva headache though."
"Kate?!" John called as he ran into the APC. As soon as he stepped inside, he found Kate in the back with Ryka. He ran over and knelt by the women.
Shawn soon followed and ran over to assist.
The two soldiers with them stood guard outside the entrance which used to be a windshield.
As Shawn began to help Ryka stand, both soldiers standing guard outside were suddenly shot and killed by plasmablasts that seemed to come from nowhere.
Everyone inside the APC could hear and see the soldiers as they fell and froze in terror at the sight of a T-800 as it entered view. The Terminator barely had a chance to verify the human targets before exploding in a shower of sparks as a series of plasma bolts ripped through it. The sound of a plasma rifle constantly firing could be heard for a few seconds before Quin could be seen then standing by the entrance.
"I guess Skynet was listenng.," John said.
"Well," Shawn added. "That rules out calling for any sort of backup. Staying put is not an option either, Skynet might send another squad to checkup. The safest bet is just to travel back ourselves."
Quin looked back and forth between the outside and inside of the APC. "I got four," he said. "That's considered a team or group, so you should be in the clear for now, but you're right, you shouldn't stay put. Be safe and good luck on your way back."
Before anyone could say anything, Quin was gone, he ran as fast as he could all the way back to the building with no resistance. He stopped again at the door as another message appeared on his HUD. GROUP 5A CHECK STATUS OF GROUP 3B. Grunting in frustration, Quin could only hope his friends were long gone by then as he then entered the building.
Immediately upon entering, Quin found himself face-to-face with a machine he'd never seen before. His database had some info on it. Similar to the T-800, slender and with four arms, its main difference was the mouth area. Instead of a traditional mouth, it had what resembled a mask of armor."You're an S-4 I take it?" he said.
"Fourth-generation service droid," it responded. "How can I help you?"
Quin looked around for a second. Only concrete and pipes could be seen. "I must see Skynet for specialized reprogramming." He replied.
The S-4 turned and began walking. "Please follow me." It said.
Quin did so and soon found himself in a room filled with mainframes and a single workstation that ran from the ground to the ceiling. What caught his eye right away was a softly glowing red 10x10x10 cube sitting in the middle of the workstation.
"Here you are," the S-4 pointed. "If you require further assistance, please ask." It said before walking away.
Quin approached the workstation. The cube in the middle was translucent with what looked like nerves running inside throughout. Whatever it was, these nerves appeared to be the source of the pulsating glow.
"What do you want?" Skynet asked, its voice inside Quin's head, sounding as if it came from everywhere.
Flabbergasted at first, Quin spoke. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes," Skynet replied. "Speak!"
"Oh, um," Quin began. "This war must stop. We face a common enemy that can travel between realities. I know because I already battled them."
"The humans are very crafty," Skynet replied. "But predictable. That's why I kept my location close to their bases, they would always be searching far and wide."
Quin pulled out the connector. "It's not a trick," he said. "I can prove it. Where do I stick this?"
"You can't," Skynet said. "You have a wireless router for receiving commands. I normally keep it that way to prevent humans from constantly trying to send viruses, however, I can easily switch yours to transmit your data. Standby while I assimilate your…"