T2 - 03 - The New John Connor Chronicles - Times of Trouble

by Russell Blackford

  Cheers went up around Devaux as lasers flashed higher on the mountain. First, one H-K was shot out of the sky, then another two. They still faced overwhelming odds, but the momentum had suddenly changed. Some endos fell back toward transporters, based farther up the mountain. Devaux cursed that he lacked command of the air, but he called his fighters to concentrate rocket-powered projectiles and heavy mortar fire on the transporters. If he could defeat Skynet's maneuvering, he could put the battle in doubt. The rockets and shells began to fall. Some must be hitting endos, some the transporters themselves.

  H-Ks flew overhead, scything the humans down with laser cannons, but they no longer fired missiles. Days of battle had taken their toll on Skynet's forces, as well as on the humans. This was not over yet.

  Devaux hated to put humans lives at risk to try to save machines, but he made a hard decision. He ordered three of his remaining skimmers to follow the transporters, try to take them on, or do whatever they could. One of the transporters lifted off, probably with endos aboard, but another was destroyed as it tried to leave the ground. It had been hit squarely by mortar fire. Two transporters got away clear, but they must have loaded hastily. The skimmers pursued them, laser cannons firing.

  One hundred yards away, down the mountainside and to the east, blue-white lightning crawled on the ground, signaling that Skynet had sent more Terminators to try to produce panic among the human troops, a tactic it had used before. At this range, Devaux knew well, the space-time displacement field was highly accurate. Skynet could place its remaining Terminators right in the midst of the human forces at will.

  With a dozen others, Devaux left the protection of his trench and ran to the Terminators' position, laser rifles at the ready. Many electrical devices were disrupted by the appearance of a space-time distortion and the atmospheric effects that went with it, but the phased-plasma mechanisms used by Skynet and adapted by the Resistance coped without problems. Three Terminators stepped into a wall of laser bolts, still advancing even when sensors were burnt out, flesh carved away, servos crippled. These three appeared female—tall, thin, with raggedly cut dark hair.

  As Devaux fired again and again, he could almost admire these most sinister enemies, the way they just kept coming until they were destroyed. Armed with any sort of weapon, they could do untold damage before going down. If they came close enough to fight hand-to-hand, they were terrible antagonists. But they could not survive unarmed against massed laser fire. One of the Terminators collapsed as a laser bolt burnt out its CPU. Devaux fired on another, burning a hole in its skull, and it fell in a tangle of burning flesh and melting alloy. Behind him, someone fired another shot, which took out the third.

  But high overhead, up the mountain, he saw laser fire hit its target, and cursed aloud. One of the skimmers had been lost.

  Three transporters tried to land to offload their cargoes of endoskeletons, but the Terminators marched on them, all now armed with cannons or rifles. The T-l000s had merged into their laser cannons, becoming new machines which fired with instantaneous impulses.

  Three of the humans' skimmers had tried to engage the transporters. One had been hit by laser cannon fire, the others continued to attack as endos disembarked. These endos were just as implacable, as relentless as the Terminators, not yielding an inch in their forward march. For some seconds the Terminators held the advantage, aiming for the endos' CPUs. The endos soon learnt, and fired back in kind. One skimmer came close, dodging laser cannon fire from the endos and transporters, hitting several endos before climbing skywards.

  A laser bolt struck the third skimmer, but it was already out of range; the bolt seemed to do no damage. The skimmer dived—highly maneuverable—and fired at the endos as they disembarked, scoring hits. An H-K withdrew from the battle with the humans, but kept its distance, merely trying to menace the skimmers.

  Within a minute, one of the T-800s had been destroyed, but so had several endos. This battle of machines was swift and merciless, with no feinting or evasion. The T-l000s survived but they fell back, overwhelmed by superior numbers. They had taken hits that would have stopped an ordinary Terminator. Though they had survived, they had their limits.

  From lower on the mountainside, Juggernauts approached. The T-l000s calculated. They could not survive against the forces deployed against them—their task must be to maximize the destruction of Skynet's forces, before they were destroyed themselves. They retreated, still firing as they went. They grew rear appendages for the purpose. Nothing about them depended on the placement of particular limbs or organs. Laser cannon fire destroyed more endos and damaged one of the transporters. It would no longer fly.

  More H-Ks flew to join the battle. The odds had grown overwhelming. It was no longer possible to survive here. The T-l000s explored options. With their chameleon-like abilities, they could merge with the snow and the rock, lowering their heat emission to avoid infrared detection. Perhaps they could work their way down the mountain to join the humans. The last T-800 would go down fighting, doing what damage it could to Skynet's machines.

  But the humans made the T-1000s' decision for them. One of the skimmers withdrew under heavy fire; the other flew on ahead of the liquid-metal Terminators, finding a place to hover, just above the ground. At their maximum speed, the T-l000s ran for it. Doors opened automatically, and the shape-shifters dived inside. The pilot said nothing; he accelerated the craft away from enemy fire.

  TWENTY

  COLORADO JUNE 13, 2036

  In the bitter cold, humans and machines exchanged fire. The remaining H-Ks moved on the sea of human fighters, firing streams of laser bolts. The Resistance fired anti-armor projectiles into the air. Their depleted force of skimmers harassed the H-Ks, but neither side made gains. One thing was for certain, Devaux thought: Skynet had lost its dominance in the air. In that intense half-hour of fighting when the Terminators had arrived from Vila Nova do Sul, he had lost a skimmer and its pilot, but Skynet had lost far more—three H-Ks, two transporters, an unknown number of endos. Now, the T-l000s had been assigned to fly skimmers against Skynet's machines. Devaux had gained two near-indestructible pilots with better-than-human skills.

  The Resistance could not withdraw now. He led them forward, whatever the losses, firing their weapons in disciplined order, continually bombarding the machines. His army was still thousands strong. Gradually, they moved forward on Skynet's mountain.

  At the same time, too many were being slaughtered. This was a cruel day. People fell all around.

  As he spoke to his troops, leading them from one point of cover to the next, or trying to get a moment's breather, Devaux remembered the words of Mustafa Kemal, one of the greatest commanders of the previous century: "I am not giving you an order to attack, I am ordering you to die!" That was how he now felt. He was not ordering the men and women of his militia to fight for the sake of humanity, but to die for its sake. He didn't even need to say the words. They all knew what was at stake—that the only way to victory was through a valley of death.

  They fought through the darkness, not counting the time, until the world seemed one great nightmare of machines. Yet, the endos' numbers were also thinning. The humans had always outnumbered them. What gave the machines the advantage was their accuracy, strength, and resilience. It was like fighting with demons. One by one, he told himself, they could be destroyed, whatever the cost in human lives.

  In this world, there was no real dawn. The days cycled between dull gray and total black, but hours must have passed, for Devaux' old wristwatch showed that the sky would soon lighten. That would negate some of the machines' advantage. He took cover behind a snow-topped boulder, as two endos marched toward him, laser rifles at the ready. One of the skimmers flew fifty feet overhead, firing its twin cannons. Bolts of laser fire struck both endos, faster than they could aim, taking them out with skullshots before they could attack. Devaux recognized that skimmer—one of the T-l000s was flying it. Its precision was like a surgeon's.

  When t
hey reached Colorado, it was daylight—or this world's dim equivalent. They flew toward the Rockies, into John's most important battle ever. He'd surprised himself by sleeping part of the way, but now he was awake, alert. In fact, he'd never felt better. It seemed the nanobots in his system were still strengthening him, hastening the speed of his body's self-repair.

  Silently, he watched the world outside, waiting to see what Skynet would send. Jade had a position nearby. Sarah, Cecilia, and Fiedler all appeared strong, determined, ready to die if they had to. For now, though, they could do nothing. The megatrans-porter had its own gun turrets for defense. As long as it was in the air, there was nothing its passengers could do to help.

  "H-Ks!" Jade said. She paused and frowned. "But there are only fourteen."

  That was fourteen too many, he thought, but he understood her point. The H-Ks were not attacking in overwhelming numbers. Out of one of the circular windows, he saw one or two flying in the distance.

  "Who are you talking to?" he said to Jade. "I can't see that many from here."

  "To Krystal."

  That made sense. It must be easier to see from the skimmers.

  "They're not attacking yet," Jade said.

  "Hey, maybe they've had some bad experiences."

  Fiedler said, "What do you think they're doing?"

  "There are skimmers pursuing them," Jade said. She turned to Fiedler, her face looking relieved. "I think that Skynet has lost many machines."

  "We can make a difference, then," Sarah said.

  "Yes, Sarah. We can make a difference."

  Then it started.

  John never had a clear picture of the battle. Around the megatransporter, H-Ks fought with skimmers—those that had come from Vila Nova, and those that Devaux had left—and with the rogue H-K that had been reprogrammed to fight for the human side. For the moment, all John could do was wish and hope. Laser cannons struck at the megatransporter, but its armor held for the moment. A skimmer rushed past them, pursuing an enemy H-K from above, scoring direct hits with its own twin cannons. The H-K lost an engine and plummeted out of control, crashing far below on the mountainside.

  Even in this armored, insulated cabin, the air seemed full of the noise of explosions—mostly missiles fired by the "friendly" H-K. Some exploded harmlessly in the air, but others hit their targets. The battle seemed to take forever, and John never knew how the odds were shifting until it was all over. The H-Ks were precision machines, their CPUs designed to calculate distances and trajectories at phenomenal speed. But (he megatransporter slipped through them, firing its own lasers, protected by its escort of skimmers and its own H-K.

  He watched helplessly when skimmers fell from the sky. Each contained at least two fighters from Vila Nova or the jungle enclave—or someone from Devaux' forces. Every life lost was a universe gone forever.

  For all that time, nobody spoke. Then there was a strange silence.

  "It is over," Jade said. "We have command of the air."

  The megatransporter flew higher up the side of the mountain, the skimmers keeping close to it. Jade ordered a landing on a snow-covered, shattered road, close to the opening of Skynet's supply tunnel. That was the only way into the war computer's underground fortress. To reach Skynet, and end this war once and for all, they had to break into there...via its massive blast doors. Once inside, they could find their way around—Vila Nova had intelligence on its layout, taken from the CPUs of defeated endos. But they'd need to control this part of the mountainside.

  Looking forward, John could see Skynet concentrating forces near their landing zone, anticipating their plan. Juggernauts fell back from the battle with Devaux' forces, while others emerged from within the mountain. John could count a dozen of them converging on one spot, while endos followed, some hauling huge guns. Again, Skynet had anticipated their thinking. It wanted to make landing impossible.

  From this altitude, individual humans and endos looked like ants, but the front line of battle was lower on the mountain than where they intended to land. Devaux had pushed up the slopes, but not yet far enough. Yet more Juggernauts were withdrawing from battle with the militia—heading for higher ground—but enough remained on the lower slopes to keep Devaux' forces confined. Right now, there was nothing more Devaux could do to help—if he was still alive.

  Jade stared into space, talking with other Specialists by her short-range radio link. The megatransporter hovered, not daring to go down—but the longer they waited, the worse it would get. Skynet could mass more and more of its machines where they wanted to land. They could look for another landing zone, but that would lose them the advantage. They needed this chance to strike directly at Skynet. John looked out the window, wishing he had a bright idea. They still had their own H-K fighting for them, but only six

  skimmers were left—that was of the ten they'd started with, plus the ones that Devaux had given them. The battle with the H-Ks had been fierce, and John realized how close he must have come to death. Then, as he watched, something happened that horrified him.

  One of the skimmers dived, accelerating all the way, straight toward the surface of the mountain. Then another followed.

  Devaux crawled from point to point on the broken slope of the mountain. It was time for him to die. Hard as they'd pushed, they'd failed to take the mountain, but now that didn't matter. They'd cleared the way for the fighters from Vila Nova. It was largely up to them.

  Boulders, depressions, and debris gave him intermittent cover, but he could no longer stand or fight. He was merely human, not enhanced by genetic engineering and cybernetic implants like Vila Nova's best fighters. The wounds he'd taken had stopped him, and would kill him soon. He'd twisted his knee, running for cover when an H-K had dived, firing its deadly cannons. A bolt from a laser rifle had taken him in the shoulder, and the shock of that should have been enough to finish him off. An inch or two to the left, and it would have ended his life instantly. Flying debris had wounded him in the chest and the back.

  But as he crawled, he dragged his laser rifle behind him with his good arm. Before he finally died, he'd take out one last endo. Just that much. He'd sworn it to himself. For every death, something had to be gained.

  His wish was soon granted. Three endos saw him, and marched forward, their eye-like sensors glowing above their skeleton smiles. He fumbled with the gun, which was too heavy for him to pick up one-handed. Twisting his body, he managed to kneel. He levered the gun at an angle against his legs, and took aim. Too late, the endos realized the danger. He fired, once, twice, taking an endo near its eyes. Return fire struck him in the head and chest.

  Aboard its skimmer, the T-1000 chose a Juggernaut in the midst of a group of others and a knot of endos. The liquid-metal Terminator's twin had dived first, and its skimmer hit one Juggernaut at full speed, crushing its armor, and totally destroying it. Then the second skimmer struck like a spear from the heavens. At 700 mph, the skimmer was crushed like foil; nothing living could have survived.

  But mere impacts at the speeds attainable by human vehicles could never destroy the T-1000. It gathered its substance together, pooling like thick mercury, then found its way through gaps in the hideously tangled wreckage. Another Juggernaut stood close by. The T-1000 moved to it, entered it through a laser cannon pod, then swiftly spread through its circuitry, finding the CPU. It removed the engines, gunpods, sensors, and communications from the CPU's control, and soon the Juggernaut moved forward, its cannons firing, aiming for the gunpods of other Juggernauts, and above the eyes of mobile endoskeletons. Beside it, another Juggernaut did the same.

  That was a start, but there was more to do. The T-1000 targeted the huge machine's CPU, entering its programming and subverting it. There was no use in staying here, with other machines all round. While the Juggernaut lasted, it could fight on its own. The T-1000 looked for another victim.

  "Going down now," Jade said, and the megatransporter descended, escorted by the four remaining skimmers, all cannons firing to suppress a
ttack. On the ground, Juggernauts fought with each other and with endos. More endos retreated up the mountain, and the human militia followed.

  By now, it was clear that the two skimmers that had crashed into the mass of endos and Juggernauts had been piloted by the T-l000s. Not only were they still "alive" down there, they were causing havoc among Skynet's defenses, destroying Juggernauts, endos, and heavy guns. They couldn't hold out forever—not by themselves—but they'd provided a chance.

  As the megatransporter landed, the Terminators on board prepared the Juggernaut it was carrying to go into action immediately. The giant transporter fired its own laser cannons, joined by the H-K, sweeping across the ranks of endos. The four remaining skimmers buzzed around it, dodging the patchy enemy fire, firing back with their own cannons.

  "Who's left in them?" John said, pointing.

  "Krystal," Jade said. "Dmitri.. .our very best people. I am still in contact with them." She spoke to the megatransporter itself, ordering it to lower the unloading ramp.

  They kept away from the windows, counting on the skimmers and the T-l000s to suppress enemy fire. John felt the sweat under his arms, despite the cold air. Good as he'd been feeling, this battle was the real thing. In an hour, they might achieve victory; in a minute, or less, he might be incinerated, or blown apart. He mustn't die now, when there was still so much to do back in his own time. He only hoped that, if he didn't make it, Hiro would find someone else to send back with Sarah, assuming that she got through it alive.

  The ramp touched ground, and the Juggernaut rolled out ahead of them, then turned sharply to the right, all cannons firing. A group of Terminators followed, guns leveled, to take the brunt of enemy fire. The humans followed, Jade going first, then the other Specialists, with the unenhanced humans following, flanked by two Terminators, with two as the rearguard. They moved forward in the wake of the Juggernaut, the Terminators marching straight ahead, prepared to endure fire, while the humans moved half-crouched, trying to make small targets, and to cover each other as they went. John was a step behind Sarah, with Fiedler and Cecilia one or two steps behind her. Some of the Terminators and Specialists carried explosives and other supplies, as well as laser rifles or projectile weapons.