"Let there be light! Light'em up, Fireflies!"

Hidden among the trees and what foilage remained on the mountainside, the Resistance, an umbrella term for the  motley group of guerrila fighters led by the infamous John Connor and fighting a guerilla war against their machine oppressors, prepared for what they hoped was their final push to end the war. If this operation, planned and anticipated by the bigshots for nearly a year, was successful, Skynet would be no more.  This ragtag group of fighters included not only Connor's Tech-Com, but the Fireflies, Iron Dawn, Nova Front, and the Minuteman collective. Lt. Cameron  Karrington,whom belonged to the latter, was honored to be taking part in the final offensive alongside John Connor's legendary Tech-Com. Nerves on edge, he lay crouched on a branch of a white spruce as the bright yellowish flares lit the sky like fireflies, hence earning the other rebel group their moniker.

"Come on! Move move move! The opening will not last. It won't be long before the tin men sentries will patrol this area. Make it count!"

Hearing his commander, Lance Winfied, a tall African-American man with the build of a basketball player, prodded them forward, Cameron leapt off the branch, his M-25 Pulse rifle at the ready and advanced forward with his squad, making up the Minutemen. 

The Minutemen are an elite rapid-response unit within John Connor's Resistance forces, operating in tandem with Tech-Com, but maintaining their own command structure and tactics. Named after the historical militias of the American Revolution, the Minutemen are known for their speed, adaptability, and ruthless efficiency. They specialize in hit-and-run tactics, cybernet infiltration, reconnaissance, and assassination missions behind Skynet lines.

Formed from survivors of early massacres and rogue militias who refused to die quietly and consisting of former police officers, SWAT team units, intelligence operatives, and service members from every military branch,  the Minutemen earned John Connor's trust through a daring assault that saved a key Resistance outpost from total annihilation. They wear makeshift gear, scavenged tech, and frequently upgrade their own weapons with parts stripped from fallen Terminators. Unlike the more structured Tech-Com units, the Minutemen operate in small, autonomous cells and thrive on unpredictability. Their motto is "Strike first. Strike fast. Fade away." Some see them as loose cannons, but when a mission is too risky for anyone else, the Minutemen are the ones other Resistance cells turn to.

 General Connor had specifically asked them to bring up the rear and scout for enemies while the Fireflies scouted ahead, took out any hostiles they came across in their path, and signaled whether the operation could commence or whether the point of call was too hot, making it unsuitable to move in on. Iron Dawn provided the air support in their gunships and fixed wing planes while Nova Front provided the heavy artillery. Lastly, John Connor's own group would infiltrate and storm Skynet Central and if successful, would terminate the rogue AI for good. Without a brain to guide them, the Terminators and Hunter-Killers would be rendered useless.

As they steadily advancted through the thicket, thick with a hazy blue hue, a Minuteman who Cam new as Drax, raised a fist in the air. Commander Winfield, a former SWAT officer, gazed over at the burly bearded man with long hair.

"What is it, Drax? You spotted a bandit within the operation zone?"

"There was contact in the bushes over there."Drax pointed at the bushes ahead to their northeast. "I only spotted red dots, but it could have been a T-600, if not a skin job, or one of those other humanoid endoskeletons that those wonks at Cyberdyne created. They think they are so slick with their rubber skin, but it's obvious that they will never mimic us."

Why anyone thought that engineering ruthless killing machines who had no conscience or purpose other than to eliminate designated threats was beyond the young resistance fighter. 

"Permission to go after the threat and eliminate it?" Lt. Karrington asked.

Winfield shook his head."Negative, Lieutenant. Our objective is not to seek and destroy, but to find a way past the patrols and other defenses that treasonous waste of coding has waiting for us and penetrate the Skynet's Central Processing Center. This is it, boys! Let's give these titanium motherfu-"

The barking of dogs cut through the air, causing the saboteurs to freeze in their tracks. The men exchanged knowing glances. Sure enough, the calm before the storm was shattered as plasma bolts whizzed through the air. A bit later, the forms of the machine defenders materialized in the blue haze. Lt. Karrington and his fellow Minutemen turned their weapons on the advancing terminators and fired.

Goddamit! How were they on to us so fast? They must have seen the Firefly's flares. Not all of the autos only see infrared at night. No matter, we will take them all down or die trying. 

Karrington concentrated fire on the center of the T-600s, downing  a couple before his squad took care of the rest.  Commander Winfield motioned for them to advance up the hill. Crouching low among what little cover was left, the men's eyes fretfully gazed around the murky environment and shot at every threat they could see. Two T-70s, their eyes glowing as bright as orbs and their faces set in a growl, appeared beside the trees on either side of the men and began firing. 

"Skynet must be getting desperate to throw everything in its arsenal at us," Winfield mused as he fired his plasma gun at the left one. "I haven't seen T-70s or T-1s since Judgement Day."

"We must be a dire threat for it to be concentrating its forces on us," Dekker added. "I guess Skynet's playing redzone defense now."

Once they took care of the clunky and obsolete guards, the sound of crunching leaves and grinding machine parts signaled a new threat. Ahead, the dark gray spidery form of a HK-Centurion made its way toward them, its cannons ready to spray humanity's defenders. Cam and his comrades lunged and rolled out of the way as the blue lasers peppered the grounds before returning fire. Cameron aimed for the red dots on the shoulders that served as its eyes to disable it. Stahl, one of his comrades, hurled a plasma grenade that stuck where the CPU of the killer bot was located and once it went off, the bot went down.

"I can see the Central Processing Core!" Drax motioned from ahead. Cam noticed that the Minuteman scout was correct. The steel gray pyramid, glowing electric blue lights snaking across it, shone like some ancient Mayan temple, with searchlights crossing the air like the Hollywood lights he had heard about. If they weren't on a mission, the structure that housed the heart and brain of their arch-nemesis would have looked heavenly. As they advanced down the hill, blue lasers arced through the air and and peppered the ground  around them. The smell of smoke wafting through the air, Cameron felt his stomach shift to his throat despite not having any rations due to his frayed nerves as he watched a comrade get disintegrated from the fire. He had seen fellow freedom fighters get blasted into bits or disintegrated before his eyes, but it never got easier, especially with what's at stake. 

"Tank up on the rocks!"

Glancing up to where Dekker had motioned, Cam's hands and legs seemed to stop working as the red and green eyes of the HK-Tank glanced down at them from the boulders above.It looked to the young liuetenant like a larger version of the T-1, but from what he seen, it was more lethal and efficient. He felt his mouth go dry as the massive killing machine's eyes glanced between the men on the battlefield and fired at where the action was. He saw plasma fire as well as regular bullets or artillery fire slam into it, but with no visible effect. An explosion behind it knocked a boulder loose and the large rock rolled down and landed on top of it, incapacitating the armored hulk. Above, Resistance air support swooped down and peppered the ground with bombs and cannon fire, clearing the path for John Connor's resistance to advance.

"About damn time."Drax grumbled as they rose and continued their way to their target. Cam, meanwhile, felt like his body was drilled to the scorched soil, unable to rise. Stahl noticed and paused in his advance.

"Karrington, you coming or what? A rogue AI is not going to terminate itself, ya know?"

That gave the young man the motivation he needed to rise to the occassion and get his body running again. He thought of his friends, comrades, and family that he had lost as a result of the machines' bloody campaign of genocide, which tightened his resolve and fueled his determination to see this war to the end. In the skies above, F-22s, F-35, F-16s, and F-18s swarmed upon machine positions and the Core, dropping bombs and keeping the skies clear for John Connor's final offensive. The ground shook as if a Harvester was going for a stroll as the enemies positions were bombed. As green tracer fire from the Processing Center's embattlements shot out to knock their birds out of the sky, Lt. Karrington observed that this was the first time in years that their planes had dominated their air. The moment his mind drifted, a few of the Resistance planes, possibly flown by Iron Dawn, blew apart. 

"Here come the Aerials!"Drax shouted. "Take cover!"

Skynet's air units raced to meet the threats from above, scrambling their HK-Aerials to take care of the attacking fighters while their ground units contended with Resistance forces. Ahead, Cameron thought he saw movement in the shrubbery.  Once he peered closer, he noticed the silhouette of a man walking through the blue haze. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the olive drab combat suit the individual was wearing, similar to the regalia of some of the Resistance units. Curious about how the Tech-Com or Nova Front were faring in this grueling storming of the enemy's critical systems, the young insurrectionist  shouted and waved his hands. His fellow Minutemen glanced over at the guerilla fighter in green as opposed to the blue the Minutemen usually had on themselves whether it was clothes, armbands, or headbands. 

The green militant turned toward him and after a moment of standing still like a statue, made his way toward them. As the lone figure got closer, Cam's initial curiosity then gave way to suspicion. Something was off about the guy. His movements seemed a bit tense, but given that they were in the final battle of a long war, that seemed natural. Another issue was that the man didn't speak at all. Perhaps battle nerves were getting the better of him as well? Once the anti-machine fighter was within 15 meters of the group, their fellow Resistance fighter's features became apparent. He was a bad pale man with broad shoulders, but the closer he approached, the less human he looked. His height looked to reach about 7 feet tall, for one. Another thing Cameron noted was the clothes were too tight on him. The face looked a bit too waxy and yellowish for natural human skin. Though, it was the eyes, the glowing red orbs that Drax claimed to see earlier, that gave away the rebel's disguise.

"Holy Jabroni! That's a skin job!" Winfield exclaimed. "Isn't that the one you spotted earlier among the bushes, Drax?"

Before Drax could respond, the Infiltrator opened fire on the men with its mini-gun. Cam kept low as he fired back at the terminator. A whoosh was heard and Cameron felt the heat of a rocket exhaust fly overhead and nail the T-600. The skin job's waxy flesh was burned off, revealing a sinister grinning metallic skull, as it trained its red eyes on the men, aiming its weapon at them. Several shots, a mixture of slugs and laserbolts, struck the metallic humanoid before finally taking it out of comission.  Out of the woods came several men dressed to blend in with the vegetation and green night vision goggles. It became apparent to the men that their rescuers were the famed Fireflies, working in the shadows to light the way for the rest of the Resistance.

One of the Fireflies, their squad leader presumably, stepped forward. Winfield rose and dusted himself. 

"We owe you one for that, my boy. Once we pull this off, drinks are on me back at Yellowstone Bunker. Though I must let you know, we had that clunker handled before you guys intervened. That's not to say we aren't grateful for your assistance."

The Firefly he addressed laughed. "I am sure you have. You did lose a few men in the process and would have lost more had we not lent our firepower to your fight. " The Firefly, who turned out to be a woman with a complexion just slightly lighter than Lance Winfield's, pointed at the slain Minutemen, which included Drax. Cameron shuddered, seeing the bodies twisted that angle.The Firefly squad leader bumped her laser rifle with her Minuteman counterpart's. "Captain Marley at your service. You can thank us by continuing the mission. General Connor won't be too pleased if word got out that we were socializing here instead of pressing our advantage when Skynet is in survival mode. Now is the best time to take that artificial bastard out of the equation. I can feel it will be a success. Will you ride with me?"

"You're on!"Commander Winfield raised his weapon in the air."Minutemen, double time!"

With his adrenaline pumping, Cameron, the Minutemen and Fireflies,  raced after the two squad leaders and into the fray. As they crested up the hill, dodging plasma and laser fire while returning it, the freedom fighters came upon the pyramid that housed the components that kept Skynet running. The structure looked much more imposing and majestic up close as the battlements lit up with green laser streaks while all the groups that made up the ragtag Resistance returned fire. The terminators on the walls were dwindling despite having superior weaponry. For every 3 humans killed, one terminator would get taken out of comission.

Stay down, you shiny metal bastards! 

Cameron had the pleasure of putting a plasma round in the noggin of what looked like a T-700 manning an emplacement on the rampart above them. A massive explosion blew a hole in the center of a structure, sending debris and machine parts scattering about in the air. Out of the sparse forest came what looked like a T-40 Russian tank, followed by a few APCs flanking with with gunners on top searching for any threats. Clanking sounds were heard as a T-7T Spider exited the hole from inside the processing core. It's single red eye glared out at the attackers  before it fired a round from its machine guns. Cameron hit the dirt as the the soil exploded around him from the large droid's fire. The screams of those that were hit reached his ears, making his blood boil. That was a sound he would never again want to hear.

This is for the ones we lost! Eat plasma, robot scum!

Cameron fired at the hulking blue-gray machination, but it had little to no effect. As it turned its gaze toward him, the eye started to glow red. Only the sounds of a helicopter were heard and its attention soon turned to the navy blue chopper came from over the mountains and made its way to the Core. Cameron felt his body numb with anxiety as he recognized the helicopter belonging to the Resistance top command. 

Is John Conner himself inside?

As the chopper closed in on the battleground, the red laser shot from the Spider's eye and struck the chopper, causing it to implode in burning metal parts. As helicopter debris and oil rained down on them, Cam's eyes went wide with terror. 

"Dear God, did we just lose John Connor?" Sgt. Furlong, Winfield's right hand man, spoke what was on every Resistance fighter's mind.

The tank fired a round at the T-7T, hitting it straight into the eye, sending the behemoth staggering back. The railguns of the APCs succeeded in finishing it off before the sounds of rotors once more.  Another helicopter, this time green and black, flew overhead. The side doors opened and several operatives of Tech-Com, noticable by their gray MA-1 flight jackets and Castro caps with goggles, grappled down to the ground among their fellow Resistance groups. Among them was a man Cameron had seen speak with Winfield before whose name was Derek Reese. He had a younger brother, Kyle, who specialized in special ops operations, but was not present in this  final campaign against Skynet. What made Cam's breath hitch was the man with the short cropped hair, beard, and a noticable scar on his face grapple down beside Derek. Every resistance fighter presence immediately found themselves saluting, including Cameron. 

"General Connor, nice of you to join us. We are about to push inside, but we don't know what we will encounter inside," the senior commander of Nova Front, his colorful fatigues a stark contrast against the dreary background and the other units' garb, addressed the their movement's pioneer. 

The famous John Connor smirked. "Let's find out then."

Cocking his gun, he led his troops inside Skynet's Processing Center, glowing a shiny metallic light with blue lights leading the way inside the trapezoid-shaped highway. Warily glancing around,  Cameron Karrington aimed his plasma weapon at every corner. He noticed screens on every corner as well as a sharp metallic taste in his mouth as they advanced deeper into Skynet's heart and mind. The fact that they hadn't encountered any opposition from any sort of defense really unsettled the lieutenant. Surely, Skynet hadn't given up and rolled on its belly. Perhaps it was biding its time and waiting to lure them into a trap, thus taking out the bigwigs of the Resistance on its own turf.  Behind them, the Russian tank and its APC escorts followed them inside, bringing up the rear.  As they entered deeper into the computer mainframe, a hissing sound was heard from around them. 

Is this Skynet's idea of a joke? Lulling us into a false sense of security and then luring is into this trap where we get killed with poison gas?

What seemed like oil droplets on the floor congregated in the middle of the Processor room and rose to shimmering silver spidery shape. The towering spider let out an ear-piercing shriek and started to skitter toward them. Cam's heart  fluttered in terror as he realized that this must be Skynet's last line of defense against the attackers. 

So much for an easy in and out. I guess we need to take this liquid metal hunk out first. I am so glad the Russians brought one.

"That's the T-Meg!"John Connor shouted. "I was told that this was Skynet's only final line of defense inside it's main processing core. "

"Who told you that?" Marcus Shemar, the Iron Dawn squad leader asked as he loaded his rocket launcher and aimed it along with his troops at the advancing liquid metal guardian of Skynet's critical infrastructure. 

A playful smirk tugged upon the lips of humanity's last hope. "A source that showed me a glimpse of what's to come."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cpt. Marley asked.  She didn't get an answer for her question as the mimetic polyalloy defense bot advanced on its targets. 

"Fire freely!"Derek Reese, John's right-hand man, ordered. 

No one needed reminding as plasma shots, lasers,  and slugs followed the rockets that arced in the air in colorful trails left in their wake before striking the T-Meg. The polyalloy arachnid shrieked in pain or rage, faltering for a bit, before continuing its advance. It swiped at the infiltrating Resistance fighters, knocking a few aside. It impaled the Nova Front commander with a tendril and shook him off, sending the dead intruder flying across the room and landing prone on the stone-gray metallic floor. Seeing their fire barely making a dent in the large Hunter-Killer, Cameron stayed out of its way as the rest of the intruders, along with the APCs supporting the T-34, fired at it, pressing on the attack. That only seemed to make it even more livid, resulting in the striking a blue and gray camo PC and landing it on top of the green camouflage APC, resulting in a inferno-infused wreck. 

We have no chance against this last line of defense. It reminds me of the final boss in those games Stahl uncovered from an old archive and we played back at the Cheyenne bunker. Only it's one we can't seem to defeat. We need a miracle or a cheat code. I'll take whichever now.

The whizzing of a tank shell was heard as it embedded itself in the thorax of the arachnid serving as Skynet's guard dog. The T-Meg hissed and bristled, preparing to lash out. The tank commander, from the cupola shouted at John Connor and motioned for them to go. John nodded and turned to the Resistance guerillas on foot. 

"You, you, and you, follow me!"

Cameron Karrington blinked twice to make sure the adrenaline from the raid wasn't playing with his senses when he saw the leader of the umbrella groups of fighters motion for him to follow.

"You sure you are not making a mistake?" Cam asked the supreme commander. 

The great John Connor shook his head. "Negative, soldier. I need all able-bodied young troopers to place the charges to level this place before Skynet's focus shifts to us. I have Tartovsky and Yelchin keeping its guard dog occupied with the tanks and the rest of the troops while we blast our rogue AI friend into the void. If it comes down to it, we will make sure their sacrificies aren't in vain."

You are going to let all of your comrades and suboridnates die after all you been through? Well, I suppose it is for a good cause. Let's make it count.

He saluted the superior general. "Yes, sir!"

"Best of luck, lieutenant." Commander Winfield patted him on the back. "I assume we are all that is left of our unit. Dekker and Stahl have been vaporized, Furlong was crushed by the flying armor spiderbot threw around back there, and fate knows where the rest are scattered to. Go do your duty. Do the Minutemen proud!"

Lt. Karrington saluted his commander. "I will represent the Minutemen with honor, sir!"

The young bearded militia combatant with the dark hair and eyes felt a lingering sense of sadness as he trailed after John Connor and the rest of the chosen ones to the glass elevator to plant the bombs. This was where it ended- either in a victory for humanity or they suffer a grievous loss to the machines.  Gulping back his doubts, Cam got between a woman in the white combat jacket of the Fireflies and an Iron Dawn heavy in his silver helmet and chest gear as they joined John Connor in their final thrust of the dagger into Skynet's cold metallic heart. The tense silence remained as the few Resistance insurgents fel the gravity of this mission. Once they arrived underground and the doors opened, John Connor waved his troops forward.

"Onward! Godspeed! Let's take this large hunk of junk down with a blast! Once you have set your charges, get the heck out of dodge!

Without further thought, each of the chosen operatives for this potential suicide mission filed out of the lift and left to place their charges. Alone with nothing but his screaming thoughts, Cameron's hands shook as he placed his charges under the critical points of the dark hallway lit by red landing strip-like lights. Taking a breath, he hurried back to the meeting spot where the mini-saboteur unit was supposed to meet up with John Connor. 

This is it. Have we done it? Is Skynet done for?

The visions of his family, friends, comrades and even the love of his life flashed before him as he recalled why he was in the fight and who the machines took from him. That made this mission all the more meaningful and blowing up the rogue AI's operating center even more satisfying. He will make all of the loved ones he lost proud. Perhaps he could even reunite with them in the afterlife. As he arrived at the rendezvous location, he noticed that his comrades and John Connor were missing. Frowning, the youthful anti-machine rebel realized he was the only one right at their meeting point in front of the glass lift. 

"Where is every-"

One blast shook the base, followed by another. The third blast sent flames and debris flying everywhere. The last thing Cameron saw was a metla slab fly at himbefore everything went as dark as the hall. 

---

"You think he will make it?"

Cameron heard voices as he started coming to. The darkness still surrounded his vision, but his hearing started to slowly return. He wondered if he had perished in the explosion at Skynet's Central Core and the voices he heard were of his dead comrades.

"I am not sure. The gash on his head was pretty deep. I doubt he will wake up anytime soon. His best chance is that he will be in a months-long coma. His worst chance? He will be the latest body added to the funeral pyre."

"No, not good enough! I can't lose another soldier. My group is virtually wiped out. Without him, I am a leader without a squad!"

Commander Winfield?

Cameron now knew he was alive somewhere safe and not in a paradise that came with a warrior's death. The pain he felt in his head confirmed that he was still grounded in reality. Sitting up, he groaned and blinked, trying to clear his vision. Only, the darkness remained. He clawed at his eyes to clear them and realized that he had torn the bandages that had covered them, only to see his commander and a doctor, flanked by an Asian female orderly with dyed blonde hair, gaze over at him as if they seen a phantom. Commander Lance Winfield blinked his right eye, not concealed by bandages, before hurrying over to the subversive that served under him.

"Thank the lucky stars. You are actually arrive, Lt. Karrington. I'd thought I had lost you as well. I am afraid the Minutemen are no more after I saw Furlong crushed in the Mainframe. It brings me great pride that someone from my unit contributed directly to Skynet's destruction, especially under John Connor's supervision. "

Cam lay there, planted on his cot like a tree. Does this mean that the machines are no more? Has the War Against the Machines ended in a victory for not only John Connor's Resistance but for all of humanity as well? Speaking of the General of the Human Resistance...

"Commander, would you know if General Connor himself made it out of the Core?"

The bald Minuteman officer only managed a smile. 

"You can see for yourself."

With that, he moved to the side and none other than John Connor, flanked by Derek Reese and a few of his Tech-Com guards, entered the sterile gray room. The famed hero against the machines had cuts and burns across the top of his head, with a bandaid under his left eye, entered the room from the hall that had dim gray lights filtering in through the windows. Everyone, including a wounded Cam, saluted their hero, who in turn saluted them. He then turned his gaze to Cameron.

"How are you feeling, soldier?"

Cameron felt his heartbeat pulse once more as the man he respected looked onto him. 

"I've been better, but I will survive."

John Connor chuckled at the Minuteman's response. "I know you will. I am sure it will lift your spirits to know that your efforts as well as the sacrifice of your brothers and sisters in arms was not in vain as Skynet has fallen and along with it the machines."

"For real?" Cameron sat up."Where does this leave us then?"

John connor nodded, running his fingers over his crew-cut hair. "That's right. The Resistance has served its purpose. Although, this doesn't mean that we will disband overnight. We will have to work on rebuilding civilization, which was on hold due to the ravaging we took from the machines. Also, there is another thing. Our intelligence department has discovered some disturbing piece of intel regarding Skynet's legacy."

All mouths fell silent and all eyes gazed over at General Connor, waiting for him to elaborate. The most revered leader of the Resistance cleared his throat before continuing.

"While our biggest enemy was in its death throes, our intelligence units learned that it has ensured a failsafe, in the shape of another AI that will be programmed to successfully combat insurgencies rather than full-scale war. "

"Another AI?" Cameron blinked his eyes in confusion and despair. "I mean, haven't we had enough of rogue AIs for a few decades?"

John Connor nodded, his expression grave. "Indeed, soldier. We have. Fortunately, this one isn't live yet and a counter AI is bound to be programmed by a brother and sister duo to combat this one. However, our sources say that Skynet had sent a terminator, a T-700 infiltrator unit, into the past to prevent the rise of the counter A.I. In response, we will send one of our own to prevent the terminator from taking out its targets and establishing the rise of Legion, Skynet's counterinsurgent successor. "

Cameron was quiet for a bit, processing the information John told him. The thought of another future like this one being possible, only with a computer program more savvy to take on resistance groups instead of whole armies like Skynet really unsettled the wounded warrior. Finally, he spoke up after a few tense moments. 

"I will volunteer for this mission, assuming you haven't picked anyone."

Commander Winfield's jaw dropped. "Karrington, are you out of your mind? You are in no shape to-"

John Connor raised a hand, silencing Cameron's superior officer. 

"If the lad feels like he can do it, I won't stop him. He has my full blessing. Albeit, we must make haste. The more time we waste, the chances of the terminator eliminating the twins you need to protect rises."

A short time later, they were inside the Time Displacement chamber with Cam standing on the platform, devoid of any articles of clothing.Shivering a bit from either exposure or nerves, he wasn't sure, but he was prepared to see this through to the end. Taking a breath, he glanced around at the former Resistance fighters present and met each of their gazes, including his commanding officer, he only gave him a nod of respect.

Who created the rule that I must travel back in time nude? Especially in front of the women partisans.

"Are you ready?"

John Connor himself arrived and crossed his arms. Cameron nodded, eager to get it through quickly.  He knew this was a one-way trip and there was almost a 0% chance he could return to their timeline, but since all the people he cared about were no longer alive, he would be the most appropriate candidate for John Connor's special assignment.

"Then we are a go."

With that, the sound of a machine starting was heard and the blue lights began to engulf the volunteer. As the blinding lights began to intensify, the gale tossing his hair around, Cameron noticed a towering figure by the door's entrance. He hadn't noticed him before, but brushed him aside as a fellow Resistance fighter. Only he just noticed the heavy hitter's eyes glow red and realized the truth. He could only watch in terror as the infiltrator drew a plasma mini-gun and began firing. Cameron's mouth opened in terror as he reached out to the commanding officers present.

"No!"

The words he uttered had barely left his mouth before he watched the purple lasers strike Winfield, sending him flying across the room. Among the bodies, he searched for John Connor, but the white light took over everything, erasing the room. It felt like he had died and fallen in limbo before he was deposited in his designated timeline.

https://youtu.be/pZbjGzUUAN4

---

"Yes Bessy, I will Mike to his baseball game tomorrow. I have not forgotten Linda's piano recital either. Do I not pay you hundreds in alimony each month? Then why do you doubt me?"

Detective Ed Henriksen was seated in his red sports car on the abandoned trail in Lake Hollywood Park one night as he listened to his ex-wife ramble like always. His first thought was to hang up, but he recalled the last time he had made that mistake, he had received several phone calls in succession. His phone had buzzed like an angry hornet until he had picked up to receive an earful from Bessy. He would just rather hear her blather on endlessly for an hour or two each night than risk her wrath again.

"I understand," he assured her, gazing at the abandoned trail, the silence broken by the chirping of many crickets. "Yes, I haven't forgotten the next payment. When do you need it by?"

As he discussed paying his ex-wife's bills, a bright light blinded him for a several seconds. After it disappated, he noticed a man with a gaunt expression and sunken eyes approach him. As the  man, a Caucasian guy in his 40s with short hair the color of wood bark, closed the distance to the car, the detective realized he wasn't wearing any close. Could he be one of those naturalists who hung out here each night?

Henriksen opened the door and stepped out. "Can I help you?"

The evening stroller paused before the plainclothes officer and tilted his head as if studying him before responding. 

"I need your clothes and your car."

"Wha-Augh!"

Before he knew it, the night walker's fist connected with his chest and everything went black.

"Ed, are you there? Are you even listening to me?" Bessy's voice rang out.

The night walker, now in the detective's leather jacket, slacks, and white collared shirt with a red tie, picked up the phone and stepped into the car. 

"Yes, I am listening. Everything is fine."

"Good, as I was saying."

As the dead man's ex-wife continued nagging, the wanderer who took his place revved the sports car an drove off into the night.