Chapter 883

She Was Right

John and John Henry watched the warehouse building from the drone footage overhead. There were no explosions evident, it was somewhat reassuring, even if not much. They waited for some good news from inside the building. They saw the four drones depart from the building after about four minutes. They took it as a good sign. Neither of the two drones which acted as a 'battering ram' appeared to exhibit any significant damage.

John hoped to hear from his people inside at any point in time. He took it as a good sign none of their troops exited the building and called for help.

"All we can do is wait for the jamming device to be deactivated." John said. "I'm sure they'll find it soon enough once they address any other threats inside the building."

John Henry was able to access a bounty of information from the four drones as they departed the building. Everything they viewed on their flight to the building and into the building, as well as what happened inside of the building was transmitted in a burst transmission from each of them. It was quite a bit of information. He was able to view everything in an instant once he received the files. He thought John might want a more comprehensive look. It could be presented in real time, or it could be sped up to a certain extents to save time in its viewing.

"I'm processing the video files from the four drones used inside." John Henry said. "I'll see if I can pull the highlights for you to view. Maybe you went to see the entire files."

John wanted to verify the two drones used as battering rams were fully functional. He knew the Terminators weren't always forthcoming with the damage done to them. Cameron was a perfect example of it. He didn't know if the drones would 'forget' to mention a few things now 'wrong' with them to stay in the fight.

"I can wait until you're ready. I want to hear from our troops first. Are the two drones which rammed the doors fully operational?" John asked. "I think they would have sustained some damage. The impact with the doors alone was bound to cause some type of metal on metal damage."

John Henry sent out an additional request to the four drones which conducted the 'Vegas Maneuver'. He specified the request was from the General and he explained why the General wanted a straight answer. He received an immediate update from the two drones which acted as battering rams.

"They are operational." John Henry said. "There's some damage. It's not significant. Cameron and Savannah personally looked each of them over before they departed."

John was pleased he received a 'straight answer'. He would have taken the inspection by Cameron with a grain of salt. The fact Savannah looked over both of them as well gave him a lot of reassurance. He knew she wouldn't allow them to leave if there was any type of significant damage. He was willing to bet the reason why they were inspected in the first place was because Savannah wanted it done.

He understood there were often details, or other 'things', which might be 'overlooked', 'forgotten', or be a 'half truth', in a report. He could understand all of those things for personal reasons as long as the gist of the report was accurate. The report he believed he could most rely on would be the one from Savannah. He knew the reports from the Terminators could be much more detailed and contain specific factual information about things a human wouldn't be able to keep track of. He did believe Cameron was right when she told him Savannah would always 'do the right thing'.

He was very impressed with the way things seemed to progress so far. He would feel better once he was able to hear from some of those inside. What the drones from inside the building indicated, was all of the Resistance personnel were undamaged, and no one was injured. It was reassuring to know, but it still left a lot of questions. He especially wanted to hear from Cameron and Savannah. He was still worried about everyone.

Earlier:

Cameron led her team forward. She was on one side of the HK Track. Cammy was on the other side of it. Savannah was behind the HK Track. She watched their six and flanks.

Dan joined up with them. He remained behind Savannah. His chassis would provide her with some cover. It wouldn't be as much as the HK Track would be able to provide for her, but it was better than nothing.

It was clear they walked into an ambush earlier. The Skynet transponder codes they were able to attain from the captured HK Tracks proved to be very valuable. Ally's action to draw off some of the HK Tracks waiting to Ambush those in the back of the truck would have drawn off one of the HK Tracks for a short time. It most likely would have been at great peril to herself to do so.

The first drone's entrance into the building on the side they were on was quite spectacular. The same event occurred on the opposite side of the building simultaneously. It was clear it was a planned and orchestrated event.

Cameron watched as the second drone on their side entered the building and started to search out targets. The noise of the power plants was loud in the confined space. All of their drones used the new quieter power plants. With the old power plants and four drones inside the building, it would've been deafening as they flew around a few feet above their heads. There wasn't a whole lot of room to begin with.

The drone which smashed the roll up door down tried to free itself from the wreckage. It did a sideways maneuver which allowed the roll up door to slide off of it. The drone then headed for the east side of the building. It appeared to Cameron the drones knew where they were going and seemed to have predesignated target areas. It indicated someone gave the drones the plans to the building to avoid navigation obstacles. Each drone was assigned a specific sector to search. It saved time and sped the process. It was good thinking again. There was no confusion or indecision with the method used. All of the drones knew what to do and where to go on their own. She knew they were on autonomous control at this point.

The second drone which entered on their side fired a short minigun burst at a running target near them. It appeared a Gray ran away when he saw the HK Tracks they set up to ambush the team failed to act as he anticipated.

All of the Grays chose to run instead of fight when their ambush failed. Cameron would have been more than willing to terminate them herself. It made their search of the building easier without any return fire. It also made it a little less risky for Savannah. It was her main concern.

There was minigun fire from the rear of the building. Cameron spotted two drones as they moved through the north and west sides of the building. They maneuvered around all the columns which supported the roof. It appeared they knew what obstacles to avoid initially. The knowledge allowed them to operate very rapidly. The main impediment would have been the columns which supported the beams for the roof.

It was clear there was activity at the rear of the building for the minigun fire to have occurred. They would need to get part of one of the teams over there to investigate. It was their goal to have two different groups exit the back of the truck behind the HK Track recently reprogrammed.

There was another short burst of mini gun fire near the sliding doors for the rail siding. It was from the first drone which entered on their side. It was able to carry out its assignment and patrol after it freed itself from the roll up door it knocked down and out of the way. It actually hadn't taken long for it to free itself. She was sure the drone which followed it in was programmed to cover its search area if the first drone became inoperable. It hadn't.

She also noted no additional drones entered the building after the first four. She was sure it was done in case the drones inside of the building ran into trouble and were trapped, or brought down. There was obviously less room for them to do evasive maneuvers with only a few feet of usable space above and below them. She could see someone was willing to take some loss, but not take a major loss, especially into the unknown. She didn't doubt for a moment if they were able to communicate with the outside, there would have been more drones which entered the building. It was clear there was a lot of thought which went into everything involving the process and how it was to be carried out.

Savannah joined Cameron's team when it was evident they weren't going to be cut to shreds by the four HK Tracks waiting to ambush them. She believed she was correct in suspecting an ambush, but she relented in her protests when it seemed Ally was in danger. She thought the next time she felt something 'bad' was going to happen, she needed to stick to her instincts and use her power to 'order' the Terminators as she did at the 'day care' center which blew up. She knew her order saved all of them.

There could have been several teams bail out of the rear of the box truck as soon as it crossed the railroad siding. Gail and Sheila could have forced open the sliding doors on the railroad siding for the boxcars. Cammy could have forced open another one of the loading bay doors and been backed up by Dan and Frank. Cameron and her could have gone in the same door Ally went in. It was the same door Al and Steve went in as well. She knew there was a door on the west side they could force open to enter. There were other options open to them which they didn't explore or exploit.

She moved behind the first captured HK Track from the back of the truck as it moved through the south side of the building. Dan joined up behind her a few seconds after they exited the back of the truck. The noise of the drones was very loud. She wore an ear plug for the gunfire in one ear, and her com in the other. She lost all communication with the 'outside' once they entered the building.

The drone maneuver impressed her even more so than the second transponder code. Both were great ideas. Savannah knew they were lucky to have those codes. It wouldn't normally be the case. They were able to capture three pieces of Skynet equipment linked to this location earlier.

Savannah watched as Cameron directed Cammy and Dan to break off and head up a different aisle way. It was where the running Gray was killed. Cameron sent the HK Track with them.

Cameron and her continued toward the row of parked HK Tracks on the east side. It was where the third Gray was engaged by the first drone.

She saw Cameron look where the Gray was at behind a row of HK Tracks.

Cameron looked back at her.

"The third Gray is here." Cameron said. "You don't need to look. He's very bloody. He took a direct, nearly point blank blast from a minigun."

Savannah previously was involved with a number of operations. She was in two different futures. The horrors of the battlefield were no stranger to her. She was always bothered by them, but understood it was a part of combat. The enemy chose to fight them. They chose to defend themselves and fight back. Whenever she viewed someone who was deceased on the battlefield, it bothered her a little to know it could be her in the person's place. It wasn't how she wanted her life to end, but she always knew it was a possibility. She understood no one was lucky on the battlefield forever. She felt she was already very lucky a lot. Luck only went so far.

Would she ever live long enough to reach 'old age'? There weren't very many older people in either of the futures she visited. She thought the toxins and chemicals Skynet unleashed in each of those futures may be responsible somewhat. It seemed everyone afflicted with some type of 'pre-existing condition' didn't survive. She understood the older an individual became, the more things there were to go 'wrong'. She was fairly certain the only good outcome of what Skynet did was to eliminate all of those with 'social diseases'. She knew everyone would be afflicted with them if it wasn't the case because of the treatment of females in the future. Some futures were worse than others.

Savannah still needed to wonder when her number would come up. It seemed to her she already was able to dodge the bullet several times. She needed to be ready for what the future would dish out.

"I need to remain acclimated to the battlefield." Savannah said. "I've seen a lot of death already. I know I'll never get used to it. I will get used to it's the fact it's the way things are."

Cameron could have done without the reminder, but she knew it was true. She wanted Savannah 'hardened' for the future. She wanted Savannah to be able to kill In cold blood, without remorse, in the blink of an eye. She felt the 'harder' Savannah was, the greater her chances of survival would be in a Skynet future. She was aware survival often came down to who could kill the other person first when two people encountered each other. They didn't necessarily need to be the 'official enemy' either. There were plenty of people who could act like an 'enemy' who were supposed to be on her side. Vanna, Jesse, and Allison all encountered those individuals at some point. They all led to abuse. Some of those were by individuals in the Resistance.

Savannah moved to Cameron's position. She looked at the third Gray. He was a mess. She knew it was what she should look like right now but even worse, if the ambush she feared would have occurred. She didn't doubt it all they all would have been terminated. They would all be chewed up like the Gray was. The noise of one of the drones increased as it moved back towards where they were. It already finished its predetermined sweep for targets and was headed back to go outside.

Savannah waved her arms back and forth in front of the drone and pointed at the ground in front of her. The drone hesitated for a moment and landed. She looked at Cameron.

"I want to do a quick inspection and make sure the drone will be able to return to base or combat in its current condition." Savannah said. "I want to see the other one as well. If either of them are damaged we will load them in the back of the box truck right now. I don't want an in-flight mishap to occur needlessly."

Cameron was very impressed. She quickly looked over the drone with Savannah and gave it a thumbs up. The drone took back off. The second one landed in the same spot and it was inspected. It received a thumbs up as well. It took off and went back to its previous position.

Savannah watched the four drones make a final sweep of the building and exit. It was evident they understood the noise level was disrupting the ability of the others to detect additional threats, especially if they were hidden.

The noise level dropped dramatically with the drones back outside. There was only the sound of the HK Track which followed Cammy and Dan, and the HK Track on the other side of the building with Gail, Sheila, and Frank.

Earlier:

Cammy advanced with Dan. They split off from Cameron and Savannah. The HK Track went with them. They followed the path the second HK drone took as it moved through the building. They passed by the cowardly shredded Gray who ran earlier. She looked at him and knew they would have looked a lot worse than he did if the four HK Tracks waiting to ambush them would have opened up on them. She actually wondered if one or more of their power cells would have ruptured with such sustained firepower at point blank range.

She saw the sector they were in was clear of anyone else. She watched the drones make a final sweep and depart. Dan followed her to join up with Cameron and make sure all the HK Tracks were deactivated. They would reprogram them once the building was secure. It appeared they would be able to capture a bounty of HK equipment. She was mindful of the fact there could be a counter attack, or some type of further Skynet response with HK drones.

Gail, Sheila, and Frank followed their HK Track. They headed toward the rear of the building where the drones from the north side engaged a target. It was the sector they were assigned to investigate further. There were three HK drones sitting parked near the rear roll up door which was smashed in. The smashed in door actually rested on top of two of them. They all quickly moved to make sure the HK drones were deactivated. The combat in the building, or even the door landing on two of them, could have triggered the automatic startup process. They wanted to make sure none of the HK drones were able to become airborne.

Even if the drones didn't target them, they were likely to fly out of the building. They would prefer to capture them intact than have to shoot them down as they emerge from the building.

They found the body of the second Gray terminated near one of the HK drones. It appeared the Gray attempted to activate them, but never made it. Gail and Sheila knew they could look like he did right now, a bloody shredded mess. Savannah tried to warn them it seemed 'off' to her, but they all wanted to 'go in'. Savannah saved them earlier in the night from termination. Savannah warned them the current situation was 'off'. It appeared whoever came up with the enemy transponder code plan, and the bold indoor drone strike saved them on this one.

It was a reminder to all of them things needed to be thought through a little better next time. When someone raised a concern of a terminal nature, they needed to pay better attention. The main reason why less caution was used was because it was thought Ally was in a jam and needed assistance. It was because the communication blockage it raised their concern and worry, and led them to believe it. To be able to have constant communication with all of their troops on the ground was imperative going forward. It appeared Skynet found two different ways to prevent them from always having the luxury.

Ally, Steve and Al were surprised by the bold drone entrance. They saw the direction where the other two teams were headed inside the building. One was headed for the north side and the other one split and covered the center section and east side of the building.

The west side of the building needed to be checked as well. One of the drones which entered from the north side made a quick sweep of the area. There were additional rooms which would need to be checked. They would need to be done individually by the troops on the ground. Ally's team was the closest.

Ally led her team to the west side to search for any targets, threats, or surprises. She was very grateful she received the transponder code update just seconds before she engaged the HK Tracks. She was very worried when the one HK Track spun around to engage her after she fired a shot at it and the other three. She knew she should have been terminated at that point, or so severely damaged she would beg for termination from her fellow Terminators.

"It was a close one." Ally said. "The HK Track locked me up, but didn't fire at me."

Steve thought it was a bold move on Ally's part. He felt a little concerned about moving away from her when the HK Track spun around to engage her. He didn't think it would have mattered in the end, because he knew he would engage the threat as well.

"You said you wanted to get its attention." Steve said. "You did."

Ally knew at the time she needed to act. There was no time to do anything else. She wanted to protect her fellow Terminators and Savannah. She did what she could to try to take some of the heat off of them. It still would have left three HK Tracks to fire at those in the back of the truck. At any rate, it was still a close one.

"I'll need to rethink such a maneuver next time." Ally said. "I knew I needed to try and help the teams in the back of the truck."

Al was ready to arm the LAW rocket. He knew he could have taken out one of the HK Tracks. There was bound to be some shrapnel from it when it was hit. It would have reduced the number of HK Tracks about to open up the girls down to two. There were two HK Tracks in the back of the truck which could have engaged the other HK Tracks.

He was sure Steve and him would have been able to knock out the one which engaged Ally. They would have been able to take two of them out of the fight for sure. It didn't matter in the end. There was a better solution which was used.

The drones which buzzed around inside would be intimidating if they weren't Terminators. They noticed two of the drones were briefly inspected. It seemed like a good idea based upon the unconventional entry into the building. They watched them make a final sweep and depart.

The three of them continued to search the west side of the building. It seemed to be the office part of the building. There were several rooms which needed to be checked. They figured one of them would be the sleeping quarters. They would need to be wary of any cowering Grays in the section they were in.

Al was away from Steve and Ally when he spotted something inside of a small room next to a large office. He figured the office belonged to the 'boss' of the operation. More than likely it meant the Terminator associated with this group. From what they heard of the conversation with the Grays, they believe the Skynet Terminator was in Reno currently. It would most likely require some additional investigation as well. He needed to be in Reno for a reason. They knew it wasn't to gamble.

"Over here." Al said. "I think this is the jamming device."

Steve looked at it and made sure it wasn't booby trapped before he disconnected it.

Ally wanted to make sure they were back in communication with everybody. There could always be a second device.

"Testing, testing, does anyone copy?" Ally asked.

The response was immediate from everyone.

Their coms now functioned.

All of a sudden their coms were jammed again. This time it was because everyone started to talk at once. Order needed to be reestablished.

John Henry was pleased the communications were restored. He was a little appalled by the lack of communication discipline. He quickly re-established control and checked in with everyone. Through his server, he would be able to carry on conversations with each of the team members and connect any which needed to be connected to each other simultaneously.

Everyone was accounted for and undamaged. It was a relief in the casino Control Center.

Cameron gave a full report for her team as she deactivated the last of the HK Tracks. Gail gave a report for her team. Ally gave one for hers.

John was pleased to learn everyone was accounted for and there were no injuries or damage.

Cameron was aware they were lucky in their endeavor and hadn't triggered the ambush. She knew they weren't the only group they needed to be worried about. There was always the real possibility of some type of counterattack. It could happen on the ground or it could happen from the air.

"What's happening on the roads and in the air space around us?" Cameron asked.

John Henry kept a watchful eye out on everything around the desert warehouse.

"There's nothing on the side road to the warehouse along the railroad tracks." John Henry said. "Only two hostile HK drones have been detected so far and both have been strategically brought down in a remote canyon. Their power plants were targeted and they needed to set down with a forced landing. They are both relatively intact with the method used."

Cameron was pleased to learn they had a little bit of a 'time cushion' without an impending attack. She made a quick evaluation of the HK equipment stored inside of the building. She determined what was necessary to remove it.

"We'll need three big rigs to move all this equipment." Cameron said. "It's in addition to the box truck we already have. Is anything else happening?"

John Henry kept track of the two box cars they dealt with earlier. He monitored their progress once they started to move again.

"There's a train approaching on the mainline, heading north." John Henry said. "It has the two boxcars in its consist we already confiscated the HK equipment from earlier in the day. They should pass your location and keep going towards Utah."

Cameron was glad the problem was already taken care of. They installed their own trackers on the two boxcars themselves. She wanted to get things expedited so they could take what they needed and clear out.

"It's been a long day." Cameron said. "What can we expect in the way of big rigs and when?"

John Henry was updated on where other members of their team were at. It was clear someone else already started to send the trucks before they even knew what was in the building. It was going to save a lot of time because of it.

"The ETA is one hour on the first truck and two hours on the other two trucks." John Henry said. "There are two more which are approximately three hours out if they're needed. If they won't be needed at your current location, we can hold them in reserve in case anything else is uncovered."

John was pleased how the operation progressed and turned out. He was very worried a few times as to what was going to happen with the girls. It looked like the operation was just a little mop up and clean up at this point. Maybe he could relax a little. He actually didn't have a lot of input into anything which occurred at any of the locations.

He looked at the food cart sitting not far from him. He already tried some of what was on it. He remembered it looked untouched when he first looked at it. He felt a little guilty to know Savannah hadn't eaten, at least not food. He was worried about her. She was out all day with Cameron.

He was always bothered by the way Cameron ran Savannah around. He felt they were times when Cameron treated her like a Terminator. He knew Savannah never complained about anything. Maybe he needed to do it for her. Maybe it was what Cameron wanted him to do. Maybe she wanted him to speak up for his 'future mate'.

"Cameron, when was the last time Savannah was able to get anything to eat?" John asked.

Cameron didn't answer at first.

The silence was deafening.

"I've neglected her needs." Cameron said. "I don't think about it because she never complains."

There was another issue to address. It may turn into a touchy subject. He'd agreed with Savannah on her assessment of the situation with the 'Trojan Horse'. He wanted to point it out, but not in a condescending way.

"You know she was right earlier…." John said.

Cameron didn't even need to think about it. She already went over everything multiple times in her head as she played out the events and possible outcomes.

"I know." Cameron said. "I should've listened. She saw we all wanted to go in and act like Terminators. We were worried about Ally. Next time I will listen better. The quick thinking with the transponder codes and drones saved us."

John hoped to get some answers out of Cameron. He wasn't sure if she knew the answers herself though. She certainly would know more about it than he was privy to.

"It was a unique approach CamNet used." John said.

Cameron didn't respond.

"Cameron?" John asked.

Cameron already made multiple calculations about the events which transpired and how everything played out. She didn't wish to discuss it with John, at least in the current setting.

"We'll discuss this later." Cameron finally said.

John was a little worried by Cameron's response.

"Is something wrong?" John asked.

Cameron still wished to avoid directly talking about the subject in the current setting. She did make one more thing perfectly clear without actually saying it.

"Not at all…." Cameron said. "I've underestimated some of the things I'm working on."

John wasn't really sure he liked Young Allison being referred to as 'things'. Maybe it was the point and he was supposed to say something to humanize Young Allison. He did understand it wasn't the time or the place to discuss the issues.

Earlier:

Young Allison watched as events unfolded. They were currently in the dark about anything occurring inside of the building. It wasn't too long before the four drones inside the building exited. It should indicate everything was secure and all targets inside were neutralized.

Anna was able to quickly process the information as CamNet fed it to her. She could pull out the highlights for Young Allison as necessary.

"CamNet has sent us the video files." Anna said. "I downloaded them to review them faster. All of our team members appear undamaged."

Young Allison wanted to verify something.

"What about the two drones I damaged?" Young Allison asked.

Anna was glad it was Young Allison's first question when she reported the team members were undamaged.

"Savannah and Cameron personally inspected both of them before they allowed them to leave." Anna said. "They would have been placed in the box truck if they were compromised in any way."

Young Allison made a point to look at the security camera.

"Thank you." Young Allison said.

Anna was a little disturbed at the direct communication. It wasn't supposed to be personal. She decided to step in.

"The ideas were yours." Anna said.

Young Allison knew it was true, but they only would have remained as ideas without the assistance of CamNet and the Resistance personnel including their drones.

"We're all a team and we work together." Young Allison said. "We all fight together as well. It was through working together we were able to accomplish the task successfully. It's how I want it looked at, because it's how it was."

They soon received all the transmissions from the team members inside once the jamming field was taken down by Ally's team. Everyone confirmed no damage.

"The operation was an amazing success. A large quantity of Skynet equipment will be confiscated undamaged." Anna said.

Young Allison was pleased with both of those things. There was something that still troubled her however. The nature of it was very personal to her.

"I'm worried about the damage I may have caused to the two drones." Young Allison said. "I exceeded their design parameters. I knowingly sent them on a task where they could be damaged or even destroyed. I knew it, and I still did it anyway. It needed to be done."

Anna wanted Young Allison to be a little stronger about what happened. She did however note the concern was genuine and heartfelt. It was the touch of humanity which was needed in the Resistance leadership. In the future it was something Future John lacked. In the present, Savannah and Young Allison would be able to provide John with it.

"Allison, in war there are casualties." Anna said. "People die and machines are destroyed. You made the call you needed to make to help the mission. You did ask for volunteers and made clear the nature of the mission might be terminal."

Young Allison was painfully aware of it. She didn't look forward to the day when humans would die because of her commands. She didn't even like the fact machines were damaged because of her commands.

She didn't know every drone in the theater of operations volunteered for the assignment when one of the 'Chosen Ones' asked for it. The 'Chosen Ones' didn't need to 'order' any of the machines to ask for something to be done. The machines all wanted to serve the 'Chosen Ones'.

"I don't look forward to making the call when people end up dying." Young Allison said. "I still wish to personally see those two drones I abused when this is over."

Anna knew Young Allison would build the same personal loyalty Savannah established, with both man and machine.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

She Was Right

The stars up above
Aren't always bright
When that happens
It darkens the night

Two can butt heads
Or they can try to unite
Isn't it much better
Than to argue and fight

Not everything is solved
With one's very might
Sometimes it's better
To be civil and polite

When things go bad
Don't expect a shining knight
Do the proper things
Everything will be alright

When things turn good
Everyone can feel delight
Some things will even excite
Remember that she was right

Nobody