Finally, under relentless assault from Atlas's forces, comprising fearless clone soldiers, AECS special units, and six advancing Dark Angels, the battle line extended to the edge of SkyNet's central hub.
Garan and another Dark Angel managed to break through the front lines, placing a plasma demolition charge beside the massive pyramid structure.
Boom!
As Garan and his fellow Dark Angel retreated to a safe distance, a brilliant blue flash illuminated the battlefield. When the light faded, they saw that a pathway leading into the core of SkyNet was successfully created.
Half of the clone soldiers and AECS units remained to secure the landing zone and outer perimeter, while Garan's team of Dark Angels, along with the remaining clones and AECS units, proceeded into SkyNet's core.
"We move."
The command from Qiang resounded over their internal comms, snapping David out of his daze. The sight of clones, AECS, and Astartes fighting in concert had left him awestruck.
David had seen many battle scenes on the company forums, including the recent footage of Samuel Young unleashing waves of psychic fire. But seeing it in person was a completely different experience.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind: weren't clone soldiers considered cannon fodder, meant to be expendable? Yet these soldiers, facing the T-600s, T-800s, and the mechanized SkyNet forces, didn't fit that label. Maybe Atlas deemed these machines to be "low threats," and heavy casualties among clones only occurred when facing "high threats."
Various speculations raced through David's mind, but he kept pace with Qiang and the team as they escorted Serene toward the newly created passage into SkyNet's core.
"Hey, David! Did you see those Astartes?" Rebecca, walking beside him, looked at the entrance ahead with stars in her eyes.
"Yeah, what, you thinking of getting to know them a little better?" David teased.
"I might," Rebecca nodded without hesitation.
David was momentarily stunned. He knew Rebecca was bold, but this surprised him.
"Don't give me that weird look," Rebecca said with a smirk. "The company has explained the origins of the gene seed. Every Astartes is basically our CEO's 'grandson.' When the Empire's established next year, if I end up with an Astartes, wouldn't I be the Emperor's granddaughter-in-law?"
David choked back an expletive at Rebecca's logic. As they neared the entrance, he cast a quick glance at Rebecca, barely five feet tall, imagining her alongside a towering Astartes, well over eight feet. He couldn't help but blurt out, "Rebecca, do you think you could handle an Astartes? What if—"
"Shut it, virgin."
Lucy cut him off, her expression irked as she shot him a glare. "We're about to enter SkyNet's core. Stay alert. Pissing off Lieutenant Sanderson (Qiang) is one thing, but getting killed from carelessness isn't worth it."
"Got it," David muttered, nodding obediently.
Rebecca shrugged but seemed amused by their banter. Having noticed David's softened demeanor toward Lucy and Lucy's subtle jealousy whenever she and David joked, Rebecca had chosen to step back from this "tension."
Those quiet, imposing Astartes—weren't they far more intriguing? Still, she wondered whether those giants had any worldly desires at all. She'd never heard of an Astartes marrying or starting a family, though their youth might have something to do with that.
Soon, their squad, composed of elite units, synthetics, and the vanguard troops, made their way through the combat zone and entered the immense pyramid-like structure that housed SkyNet's core.
Inside, the halls were well-lit and exceptionally clean, as if maintained by cleaning drones. Yet the corridor floors were littered with the remains of destroyed Terminators and Hunters, along with the broken bodies of some clone soldiers.
It seemed that Garan and his team had encountered and swiftly annihilated the machines stationed here.
The tactical radar display on David's visor showed friendly units a hundred meters ahead.
"Pick up the pace," came another order from Qiang. The squad quickened their steps, following the command.
Before long, they moved through the outer sector and encountered an AECS unit temporarily stationed there. These AECS troops, as battle-hungry as ODST and the Sangheili veterans, were forced to pause, their comrades too injured to continue. They also fortified the occupied zones, preventing SkyNet from cutting off their retreat.
Qiang's team continued forward, focused on their primary mission: ensuring Serene could breach SkyNet's systems and claim all of its "assets." Combat was secondary.
Following Garan's guidance, they took an automatic lift to the upper levels of SkyNet's core.
As the doors opened, they were greeted by a massive hall filled with countless T-800 metal corpses, alongside fragments of clone soldiers and the bodies of several fallen AECS members. Six squads of clone soldiers and two AECS squads were clearing the area and retrieving their fallen comrades.
As for Astartes casualties? That would be wishful thinking.
In the Terminator universe, only a nuclear blast or high-level weaponry could take down an adult Astartes. Conventional Terminators and Hunters posed no significant threat to the six Dark Angels.
The AECS members who were collecting the remains glanced briefly at Qiang's team before returning to their somber task. While David couldn't see their faces due to their helmets, the solemn atmosphere and the faint sounds of gunfire and explosions in the distance indicated the weight of their losses.
However, sacrifice was a part of life for the AECS. They fought for humanity, not for resources or dominance over the weak. Moreover, Atlas had preserved the consciousness data of all elite soldiers. If a fallen AECS wished to continue their life as a human, the company would honor their last will by cloning their body for free.
These cloned bodies had far superior attributes than ordinary clones. And for those who specified they wanted synthetic capabilities in their will, they could receive enhancements for a nominal fee. Yet despite this "resurrection," the cloned AECS members lacked souls—just vessels of self-awareness.
After a moment, Qiang's team moved forward. Following Garan's directions, they soon arrived at a bio-experimentation center that SkyNet had set up in the core.
Inside, David witnessed a grotesque scene.
Hundreds of operating tables and incubation pods, as well as dismembered, skinned human bodies, lay strewn across the room. David could almost feel the suffering his fellow humans endured before their deaths, the unimaginable torture and experimentation.
Also scattered across the room were the bodies of people in white lab coats, slumped haphazardly on the floor.
The "humans" in lab coats had died gruesome deaths, either with their heads and torsos blown apart or ripped in half. A few bore the marks of high-energy burns, clearly inflicted by the Dark Angels.
The Dark Angels' .75-caliber explosive rounds could tear a human body apart even without detonating, and the mangled remains suggested they'd been torn apart by sheer force.
But why had the Dark Angels and AECS suddenly turned on their own kind?
"These bastards…"
Scarecrow, carrying a 10mm Gauss sniper rifle and a compound bow, knelt by one of the corpses and observed it. "These must be the human collaborators intelligence mentioned."
"Likely," Zero agreed.
Human collaborators.
Recalling the intel from the briefings, David inspected one of the bodies. It had been torn in half, and despite the mask covering most of its face, the terror in its eyes was unmistakable.
Indeed, to face an eight-foot-tall giant and be torn in half… David shuddered at the thought.
The "collaborators" had either willingly sided with SkyNet or defected under torture, sometimes even high-ranking experts from before the war. SkyNet kept its promises to them, offering "luxuries" if they aided in its biotechnical experiments. Eventually, these collaborators became devoted to SkyNet, furthering its research and aiding projects like the development of the T-800 infiltrators and the humanoid T-1000.
When Garan's team encountered these traitors, they slaughtered them without hesitation to avenge their murdered kin.
"Keep moving. Don't slow down," Qiang reminded over comms.
The team quickly left the bio-lab and, guided by Garan's coordinates, finally reached SkyNet's central processing core.
At the same time, an intense barrage of gunfire echoed in their ears.
The core area was vast. A large platform supported a pyramid-like structure, its peak emitting a blinding column of blue light. The gunfire resulted from the Dark Angels, clone soldiers, and AECS teams battling a colossal "Terminator" guarding the core processor.
This massive Terminator, composed of liquid metal resembling mercury, was roughly the size of a Phantom gunship, equipped with three pairs of spike-like legs and two scorpion-like pincers, resembling an enormous metal spider.
A T-1000000—the "Million"?
David recalled the intel about SkyNet developing the T-1000 infiltrator. While SkyNet had perfected liquid metal technology, it was still working on stabilizing humanoid forms. As such, the "Guardian" of the central core was the immense T-1000000.
Despite the onslaught of hard-light beams, explosive rounds, and AMWS bullets, the T-1000000 barely showed signs of faltering. Energy weapons and explosive rounds could inflict some damage, but its sheer size made their attacks seem insignificant.
Realizing that conventional weapons wouldn't suffice, Garan assessed the situation quickly. Trying to destroy a T-1000000 with ordinary weaponry was futile. He called out over the comms, "All units, fall back! Maintain a safe distance from me!"
Without waiting for a response, Garan slung his explosive rifle onto his thigh armor and charged forward at incredible speed. Dodging a swipe from one of the T-1000000's spiked legs, he reached for the small plasma bomb attached to his back, preparing to throw it with precision.
With a well-practiced flick, he launched the plasma bomb directly into the T-1000000's gaping maw.
The bomb slipped smoothly inside, and Garan immediately activated his Titan V armor's energy shield, cranking its power output to maximum.
A split second later—
Ri—BOOM!
A blinding blue light exploded from within the T-1000000, bursting outward and illuminating the entire core chamber. Even David, with his enhanced vision, had to shield his eyes from the brilliance.
As the light subsided, David lowered his hand, blinking away the afterimage. Where the T-1000000 had stood, only pools of molten metal remained, slowly cooling into inert silver puddles.
The surrounding clone soldiers, AECS, and Dark Angels regrouped, their faces reflecting relief and admiration. The enormous T-1000000—SkyNet's ultimate guardian—had been eliminated in a single, decisive strike.
David's mind was reeling. Moments before, he had watched Garan and his Dark Angels tearing through human collaborators with fierce justice, and now, Garan's fearless assault had single-handedly turned the tide against SkyNet's strongest defense.
This wasn't just a victory; it was a powerful symbol of humanity's resolve against the mechanical oppression of SkyNet.
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