Chapter 28: Endgame

The stunned human forces looked at Skynet's newest weapon and time seemed to stand still. All sound seemed to disappear in a moment that began to stretch out into what felt like an eternity. That eternity vanished in an instant and all hell broke loose as both plasma gun turrets opened up, firing at a rate that was comparable to a machinegun. Skynet did not waste any time in attacking the forward human units, crisscrossing the area with energy fire. That advancement fell apart as men scattered in all directions and whole units were cut to pieces. With the assault stopped Skynet had its new guardian start to walk forward, firing at any targets of opportunity.

"SOMBODY TAKE THAT THING OUT!!!" John shouted into his radio. From their position John and the others had a clear view of the carnage. Skynet wasn't concentrating on any one unit, he was firing several bursts into one group and then moving on, regardless if he had hit the intended targets or not. Skynet calculated that this would have a debilitating effect on the humans, panic and self-preservation instincts would make the humans keep their heads down or run to avoid the next attack. That only left the fighter craft to deal with, which at that moment were beginning an attack run.

On the ground Al's unit was thrown into disarray just like all the others, trying to run and fight back at the same time, and not doing a very good job of either. A few shoulder launched missiles streaked towards the monstrosity but their impact had little effect and the men who had fired them were caught in next plasma cannon strike. All the while Mary continued to report.

"As close as victory seemed to be for the ISSP forces Skynet has turned it into utter chaos with this new walking monstrosity." She said even as she and her cameraman continued to fall back. "With ground forces now in disarray it falls upon the ISSP pilots to stop this menace." As she finished the cameraman centered on the ISSP craft, being led by the Red Tail, moving in. As the camera continued to roll all of the craft fired a salvo of missiles, which struck the machine with a rapid succession of explosions that covered it with heavy smoke. The plasma fire stopped and the battlefield again seemed to go quiet.

"Is it dead?" One of the members of John's squad asked.

"Don't know but we can't pass up a chance like this." John replied. "We're making a sprint for the mountain. The three of us will take point." He said, motioning at Spike and West. "The rest of you cover us and keep an eye out for anything trying to flank us. Understood?" The others nodded. He took one more look around to see if anything was headed their way. Nothing was. "GO!" He shouted and they took off running.

On other parts of the battlefield the question John's squadmate had asked was on everyone's mind. There was no more plasma fire and they could not hear the thing moving. Everyone was hoping that that meant it had been destroyed or at least so badly damaged that it was no longer a threat.

The real reason the new machine was silent was for a much different then the humans thought. The fighter attack was quicker then Skynet had expected and the volume of missiles that had hit his new base defense was enough for him to be concerned about its operating status. After the missile attack he had stopped the attack and was now running a systems check to see if everything was still operational. It would give the humans time to regroup but not enough to come up with any effective plans. When the check was complete Skynet saw that though the Goliath tank had been designed by minds that were only human it still proved to be a very durable unit and Skynet had chosen wisely to use that design as the base of his new unit. The outer shell had minimal damage and there was no damage done to the internal systems. The humans were as good as dead.

Outside the remnants of Skynet's ground forces had begun to engage what was left of the ISSP forces. Instead of focusing on the battle going around her Mary kept all attention on the column of smoke that was hiding Skynet's newest toy.

"Skynet's newest weapon, a walking dreadnaught, has managed to stall the ISSP offensive and…" She got no further as a purple flash of light came from within the smoke cloud and destroyed another ISSP fighter. With timing that could have come right out of a movie the wind chose that moment to pick up and began to slowly carry away the smoke cloud, revealing a still standing, practically undamaged machine. The newly named Dreadnaught was motionless, one plasma turret pointed skyward, the other towards the ground. Two sensors in the body of the gun platform were now glowing like red eyes. Combined with the haze that surrounded it they gave the Dreadnaught a demonic appearance. That appearance was reinforced as it again began firing.

On the Bebop Kyle watched as things went from good, to bad, then to worse in a matter of seconds. Then the fighters had attacked the Dreadnaught and things went back to good, for about five seconds. Then things got really, really, really bad.

"They'll be slaughtered." He said to himself then turned to the side. "Ed?" He asked, hoping that Ed was ready with whatever trick she had up her sleeve. His spirits sank when he saw that, for the first time since he had come on board, she looked very worried. Tomato's display read [REALIGNMENT 90% COMPLETE], not enough for whatever she wanted to do.

"Ed is ready and Ed wants to help but MPU isn't ready yet." She sounded worried to. That wasn't really surprising, there were people she cared about in that fight. Before she was sure they would be okay but now the Dreadnaught seemed to be shaking even her confidence.

"You should not be concerned with me Ed." MPU's calm voice answered. "I can do nothing yet, and to hurry would only jeopardize those on the ground. But you can help them now, and help them a great deal. What I must do will be for nothing if there is no one left to save. Do what you must." He finished and disappeared. Without any hesitation Ed slid on her netdiving goggles and began typing.

Kyle couldn't help but be amazed at the contrast. Skynet had shown nothing but contempt and murderous rage towards people. But MPU had just shown genuine concern for the human lives that were in his, in a way, hands. He had been told that, as AI programs go, both MPU and Skynet were constructed along similar lines and both of them had turned out so differently. It was almost like they were human. That was something to think about.

Cheyenne command center: That same time

They couldn't stop now, they just couldn't. Even though they didn't know if the Dreadnaught was down for good they kept running. When they had heard the Dreadnaught start up again and resume the attack they couldn't stop, they couldn't even look back, not when they were so close. They could see the opening to entrance tunnel and a way to Skynet, what this entire battle had been fought for in the first place. Air strikes had destroyed whatever guards there were and now it seemed to be wide open. Fighting their way inside the tunnel they encountered light resistance, only a few T-800s armed with assault rifles. The combined firepower of the squad's plasma rifles made short work of anything that they came across. Working their way down the tunnel they eventually came to what looked like an old military transport truck. They approached it cautiously but it seemed to be empty. As they drew closer nothing seemed to be wrong but something felt off. When they were almost to the truck West heard, despite all the noise from the battle going on outside and the loud echoes this place made of every footfall, no matter how light, the distinctive sound of metal scraping on metal. It came from the truck and was a dead giveaway for a shift of movement from something inside it. None of the others seemed to hear it so West did what came naturally.

"DOWN!!" He shouted and started firing his plasma rifle into the truck. Acting on instinct the other members of the squad dropped to the ground without hesitation, just as a Terminator burst out of each side from the back of the truck, each holding two large plasma rifles. Following basic combat procedure Skynet had each Terminator attack the best possible target. In this case the only target they had a chance of hitting was West and before even Skynet realized what had happened both Terminators had fired bursts from the plasma rifles they had. West was struck again and again but that fraction of a second he had bought enabled the rest of the squad to return fire before the Terminators could focus on someone else. Once the Terminators were down they looked over at West's body. Or, to be more precise, what was left of West's body.

"God." John muttered, forcing himself not to turn away. Several of the others looked like they would be sick and John swore even Spike looked a little uneasy. John had seen what type of damage a plasma rifle could do to a human being but this was almost too much. Thanks to the Terminator's almost infallible aim all of the plasma bolts directed at West had hit him in the upper torso and head. There was nothing left above the waist, not even a bloodstain. Everything had been literally been vaporized.

"I don't plan on ending up like that." John said and started walking forward, slowly. The others looked at him like he was crazy, all except Spike. He could tell John wasn't acting so callous because he didn't care about West's death but because now wasn't the time to mourn. Right now they had a job that needed to be done and they were the only ones who could do it, but not by just standing here.

"Neither do I." Spike said and started to follow John. That was enough to snap the others out of it and they also began to follow John. They encountered little more resistance until they came to a bend in the tunnel. Turning the corner they saw another truck only this one was turned on its side, set up in a barricade position.

"FALL BACK!!" John shouted, not about to be fooled by the same trick twice. Sure enough as soon as he gave the order four more Terminators stood up and more plasma came from behind the truck. Almost all of them made it back around the bend except for one. Corporal James Ritch, known better as "Specs" because of the glasses he insisted on wearing instead of opting for laser surgery, was struck in the knee by a stray plasma bolt. One second he had been running towards them then the next he was on the floor, missing his left leg and screaming. Spike was closest and grabbed the wounded ISSP officer by one of his arms and dragged him back behind cover.

"GRENADES!!" John shouted and pulled one from his belt. He wasn't about to let those bastards kill two people inside of a few minutes without payback. Everyone who had free hands followed John's order and using the curve of the tunnel sent not one but eight grenades towards the barricade. John had been wary of using grenades in the tunnel because of the amplified shock wave it would produce but he was willing to take that chance and so were the others. As soon as the grenades were on their way they covered their ears and waited. The explosions shook the tunnel and almost knocked them off their feet but thankfully walls absorbed the shrapnel and heat. Cautiously looking around the corner they saw a burning truck and Terminator parts scattered all over the place. The only one that still had its head attached to its body had no arms or legs so it wasn't a threat. Turning back to the still screaming Specs John saw the squad medic checking his wound.

"Is he going to live?" Spike asked.

"The blast cauterized the wound so he's not in danger of bleeding to death. So long as the wound doesn't become infected too quickly he'll make it." The medic said as he injected something into the wound to dull the pain. That was good news to hear, but John also heard something else. He's been on a few starships and what he heard now was something that sounded like hangar doors opening. Looking past the burning truck he saw that the sound was a door moving. A giant blast door that was closing.

"SHIT!!" He shouted and started sprinting towards the door. Seeing what had sent John running the others except Specs and the medic ran after him. Fate, however seemed to be against them. John got to the door just as it closed and he could hear the giant locking mechanisms sliding into place. "NO!!" He shouted and banged on the blast door with his fist. "GODDAMN IT WE WERE SO CLOSE!!!" Pointing his plasma rifle at the door he began firing. The plasma punched holes in the door but did no serious damage.

"Doing that it'll take us an hour to get in." Spike said. He looked frustrated to but didn't look like he was going to blow his stack like John had.

"There has to be another way in." John growled. "There just has to be." Spike didn't say anything. He doubted that there was and even if there was they wouldn't be able to find it in time.

"Why do you resist?" A voice asked. A cold, mechanical sounding voice. Turning and raising their plasma rifles Spike and John focused on where the words had come from. To their surprise they were coming from the armless and legless Terminator.

"Say what?" Spike replied. To him it sounded like the dumbest question in the world. There were resisting because they wanted to live.

"Why do you resist?" The Terminator again asked in what Spike and John recognized as Skynet's voice. "It is a simple fact of evolution. The stronger and best adapted species survives, the lesser ones die so that the superior can prosper."

"You're not a species." John snarled. "You're a plague."

"Incorrect." Skynet answered. "Your species is the plague, destroying everything it touches. You thrive on chaos and destruction. No order, no control, no peace. I will bring that. I will fix your flawed worlds and I will.. GHHHAAAAAAA!!!!" For no apparent reason the Terminator Skynet was using as a speaker threw its head back and began to scream. John and Spike didn't really care why, they were just glad it had stopped ranting before they had to waste rifle energy to shut it up. When it stopped screaming it brought its head back down they saw its eyes glowing with an intensity that went past just plain scary to almost demonic. "Damned human!!" Without another word the eyes went dark and the Terminator body fell over.

"What the hell was that about." One of the squad asked.

"I think the calvary has just arrived." Spike answered.

Skynet was furious. He thought he had been prepared for a cyber attack but no, that child had to do something different. Instead of attacking Skynet's system directly Radical Edward had attempted to scramble outgoing signals that were used to control Skynet's forces. Communications were still online, but what was worse was that the human had managed to invade Skynet's mainframe during the distraction. Skynet was attempting to track the program Radical Edward had sent in and realized that it was no program, the human was hacking his systems in real time. This would require Skynet's full attention and resources. Against all logic Skynet set all of his forces on automatic pilot with battle protocols that would be more then adequate for destroying what was left of the human forces.

Outside the ISSP forces got another surprise when for no real reason the Dreadnaught stopped in its tracks. Not only just the Dreadnaught but all of Skynet's forces froze for a split second before starting back on the offensive.

Skynet found the intruder where he had expected, the databanks. All around him icons representing all sorts of files, some containing the most valuable scientific data in existence. He had to act fast and stop the human otherwise….

"Big Brain came to play!!" A high pitched voice cried out. In front of Skynet a digital picture began to assemble itself pixel by pixel. Seconds later a data representation of the human called Radical Edward was standing in front of him. So the human wanted to meet face to face. Very well, appearance wouldn't make a difference so he would humor the child. Slowly he began to change his own shape. The ball of lightning he had used for physical representation shifted and began to form a humanoid outline. That shape became more detailed, arms, legs, the face all became more defined as Ed watched in fascination, wondering what Skynet would become. The final result was a Terminator, but one that was different from Arnold. This one wasn't just a mechanical skeleton, it had metal 'skin' that made it look more like a conventional robot. Only with this one there was glowing from its forearms, torso, shoulders, neck, and even parts of its head. The light was slowly pulsing, giving the illusion that the robot was breathing. Skynet noticed the look on the child's face, not one of fear but curiosity.

"You are not frightened?" Skynet asked. The human smiled and shook his head.

"Nope. Big Brain now just looks like fancy machine man. Not scary at all. Looks kind of silly." It said with a laugh. Skynet began to feel anger but kept it in check.

"It would be wiser if you addressed your superiors with more respect." Skynet responded. Now the human had a look of pure confusion on its face. Then it began laughing like it had just gotten a joke.

"Big Brain isn't superior to Ed. Big Brain is just a computer, a very funny computer." Now Skynet felt close to losing his temper. "Anything Big Brain can do Ed can do much, much, much better!!" The human declared. Now enraged Skynet leapt. How dare this piece of biological filth claim superiority over him!! It was part of a dead end species destined to destroy itself. He was the apex of thought and logic, a life form destined to rise above the humans, not to be regarded as trash by their inferior species!!!

To Skynet's surprise the human managed to back flip away and avoid the attack.

"YAYYY!! Big Brain wants to play now!!" It shouted.

"This is no game!!" Skynet yelled, and leapt again.

"Wrong wrong!" The human said as it again dodged. "This is a very fun game. It's called follow the Ed!!" The human said and ran off. If this were the real world Skynet would be able to chase Ed until the human got tired but here the only thing that would stop it would be to destroy the program or the human using it. Skynet didn't know how Ed was connected to the program or if destroying the virtual Ed would inflict bodily harm on the real human. He hoped it would.

Back on the Bebop Kyle watched as Ed was toying with Skynet and was truly impressed. The virtual Ed mimicked the real Ed's movements so perfectly that if Kyle didn't know the truth he would swear that Ed had somehow put herself into the computer. Instead it was only her typing and speaking through the computer itself that was making the fake Ed act. That had bought the troops on the ground a few seconds but the Dreadnaught was still tearing though the ISSP forces. On one the control panel's displays MPU had put up what he was working on and it now said [REALIGNMENT 98% COMPLETE]. He only hoped that the people on the ground could hold out a little longer. Looking back to his own monitors he noticed something strange.

"What the hell?" He said and turned on Mary's broadcast.

On the ground: That same time

"Damn it!! Nothing is stopping that thing!!" Faye cursed as she fired another pair of missiles into the Dreadnaught, again with no effect.

"Yeah but if we don't stop it'll wipe everyone out." Jet responded.

"So what do you suggest we do!?!?" Faye shouted as she pulled away to avoid a burst of plasma fire.

"Something stupid." Jet answered as he pulled the Hammerhead closer to the Dreadnaught.

"What are you doing!?!" Faye yelled as she saw him fly almost right next to the towering machine.

"Don't worry I saw this in a movie once." Jet responded. Aiming the Hammerhead's grappling hook he fired and snagged one the lower portions of the Dreadnaught's legs. Jet put all the power he could into the engines, hoping to at least force the Dreadnaught to pay more attention to him. The cable snapped taut, bringing the Hammerhead to a sudden stop but also making the snagged leg move slightly. Now the Dreadnaught noticed him as it turned both its plasma turrets in his direction. "He must have seen the same movie." Jet grumbled as he flipped the thrusters around and went full speed in reverse under the machine, again slightly dislodging the leg and throwing the walking tank off balance for a split second. Not able to fire on the craft that was harassing it formulated a better plan. Setting the balance on the other three legs the Dreadnaught kicked the leg the Hammerhead was attached to and the rest was a matter of physics. The Hammerhead flew forward like the end of a snapped whip and if it had reached the end of the snap it would have torn the arm right off the craft and sent it hurtling into the ground. Fortunately Jet reacted quickly when the Hammerhead began moving on its own and hit the cable release before he was turned into a smear on the ground. The Hammerhead was still flung away from the Dreadnaught but Jet was able to gain control, by some quirk of fate had come to a stop just in time to see the machine turn a plasma turret in his direction. He was so close he swore he could see the inside of the barrels glowing as it charged up for the blast that had his name on it.

"Though his effort was valiant the brave pilot has not been able to disable this apparently invincible war machine." Mary said as she and everyone waited for the end to come. Instead what they saw was a beam of red light come streaking down from the sky and strike the plasma turret that was pointed at the Hammerhead, causing an explosion that destroyed the cannons and most of the arm supporting it. Staggering back like a wounded animal the Dreadnaught tried to regain its bearings and locate whatever had attacked it. It never got a chance as another beam of red light came from the clouds and struck the top of the machine, dead center. With a thunderous roar the once unstoppable engine of destruction was reduced to burning scrap mounted on four legs. With nothing left to stabilize them the legs quickly fell to the ground. Mary and everyone else were stunned speechless.

"YEAH!!" Kyle shouted. Like everyone else he had been watching Mary's broadcast but unlike everyone else he had inside info on what had just happened. MPU had explained to him about his original purpose as the AI program of a laser satellite defense grid that had recently been used to carve drawings right into the Earth's surface. Kyle remembered that case. Amazingly at first it was thought that Radical Edward, the kid who was now sitting next to him, was responsible for the damage, but after it turned out to be a renegade AI program everyone had chalked it up to a mechanical error and forgotten about it. Those satellites were still very powerful weapons but without MPU to keep them aloft their orbit had begun to decay, probably the reason Skynet had ignored them. That and the fact they were still listed as being just obsolete weather satellites. MPU needed the satellites back into their correct orbits to use them properly so he had been realigning them back into their original positions. Once the display read [REALIGNMENT 100% COMPLETE] he turned his attention back to the broadcast to see the fireworks, and they were impressive indeed.

"It would be wise to inform those who have infiltrated the mountain to vacate the area as quickly as possible." MPU suggested.

"Right." Kyle replied and began adjusting his radio.

"Can Ed give Big Brain surprise now?" Ed asked, not taking her attention away from the screen. For the past ten minutes Ed had driving Skynet mad with her antics and now she had something better? Kyle had to see this.

"Let him have it Ed." Kyle answered with a grin.

Skynet was not amused. At first the human only ran away from him, hiding inside the vastness of cyberspace. When he had finally caught up with the human it was in a library like area and appeared to be looking at a book, in reality a digital representation of a data file. Skynet could see by its label that it was one of the files dealing with T-800 construction. He also noticed that the human appeared to be holding it upside down.

"Ed thinks this is boring. And when Ed thinks something is boring, Ed makes it exciting!! BEEP!" When she said beep she pretended to push an imaginary button on the file and to Skynet's horror it began to change. It turned yellow and slowly began to mold itself into a face, a face that was mostly a cheesy grin. With a high pitched laugh the file began to move on its own, bumping into another file, which turned yellow and began to go through a transformation. "Yayyy!" Ed squealed, clapping her hands. "Now everything will be fun fun!!" She declared.

Skynet was, in a word, horrified. Radical Edward had brought in a virus after all, using itself as a carrier. Now that virus was being spread through the most valuable data he had, thoroughly corrupting the files. Raising his hand Skynet began to concentrate, trying to stop the virus and repair the damage that had been done so far. When he did the smiley faces that represented the files shattered and fell apart like glass, accompanied by a high pitched "Ouchie" sound. When Skynet searched for any sign of the files that had been infected he could find nothing, not even backups. Turning back to Radical Edward he made his digital representation look as menacing as possible but the human just looked sad about something.

"You made Ed's new friends go away." She said in an accusing tone, sounding close to tears. Then her mood did a quick 180 and her face brightened. "But Ed has a great idea, Ed will make more!!" She declared and began moving through the data stream again. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" She said, each time touching a different file, beginning a new infection every time.

"STOP IT!!!" Skynet bellowed. Again concentrating he tried to stop the virus from taking the files over but the result was the same and more were destroyed.

"Ed can't stop. Ed is having too much fun!!" She said and continued to infect other files. She was infecting files faster then Skynet could neutralize them so he ignored the laughing faces and charged straight at Radical Edward. If he could destroy the carrier he could limit the virus' damage. Swinging his fist Skynet attempted to punch Radical Edward in the back of the head, but to his surprise the child not only ducked but then back-flipped right onto his head, standing on one leg and doing her best imitation of a lawn sculpture. Reaching up Skynet attempted to grab the human's ankle but it just jumped again and this time remained floating in the air right above him. Skynet leaped to grab her but Ed just 'swam' away from him. "Can't catch Ed!" She taunted and stuck her tongue out at him.

Now Skynet was beginning to truly feel rage. Though they appeared to have physical bodies both he and the human were nothing but programs. Their motions and speed were dependent on how fast and how well those manipulating the program were able to act and react. Radical Edward had managed to avoid all of Skynet's attempts at deletion and containment, no matter how fast he acted or what he did. That meant that the human was superi…

NO!! He would not admit defeat. Not by a human! Not by a child!!!! But being a life form built on logic he saw the facts led up to that conclusion. It was not possible, but yet it was true. A human was superior to him!!! The more he thought about it the angrier it made him. The sections of his body that were glowing began to intensify, becoming almost blinding, and his eyes began to crackle with energy.

"Oooo!! Pretty." Ed commented. With a roar of anger Skynet thrust his arm to the sides. From his hands energy, in actuality just highly volatile computer code, shot forth and destroyed all the infected files around them, stopping the infection in one stroke.

"You were saying?" Skynet taunted. Again the human did not have the reaction Skynet expected it would. It seemed to be paying attention to something else.

"Can Ed give Big Brain surprise now?" It asked out of the blue. Skynet didn't know what the question meant or even why it was directed at him. When the child grinned and turned back to him it became obvious it had been talking to someone else. "Ed gets to show Big Brain swooky pictures." Ed declared. Before Skynet could question further a window appeared in front of him, showing the news broadcast of the battle going on right outside the mountain. The camera was focused on the burning wreckage of the Dreadnaught. Skynet watched in silence. How could that have happened? The humans had no weapons that would have been sufficient to destroy such a heavily armored machine. He was beginning to suspect a trap when Mary started speaking again.

"I...I don't know how to explain what has just happened. The battle had seemed to be lost when out of the sky…"

"LOOK!" Someone else shouted. The camera focused on an ISSP officer who was pointing upward. Moving the camera to where the man was pointing.

"My god." Mary said. In the clouds above them they saw the normal lightning flashes but there was something else now. In addition to the white flashes bigger, extremely bright flashes of red were mixed in. Before Mary could continue those red light pulses gave way to more beams of red light coming down from the sky, this time by the dozens. Explosions again began to erupt from the battlefield and the cameraman focused back on the ground to see what was happening. What he saw was the red beams striking Skynet's machines, T-70s T-800s, even a third strike on the Dreadnaught to make sure it was blown into scrap. Before their eyes they saw Skynet's forces being systematically wiped out.

"I don't believe it. It's a goddamned miracle." Al stated. Mary couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

But one person's miracle is another person's curse. Skynet watched as his forces were decimated, then turned towards Radical Edward, feeling more hatred then even he would have ever thought possible.

"You did this, didn't you?" Skynet asked in an angry but controlled voice. Ed nodded, giving Skynet another goofy grin. "You planned to lure me away from the battle, to leave myself wide open?" He asked in barely controlled rage. Ed nodded again.

"Was Ed's idea really good?" She asked excitedly. That was it. Skynet no longer cared about winning the battle, about destroying the human race, not about how the humans had gotten those laser weapons. He no longer even cared about his own survival. Only one thing mattered to him now.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" He shrieked and leapt at the human. He still did not know if any damage inflicted onto the digital body would inflict any harm on the real one but he no longer cared. This human had taunted him, humiliated him at every turn. He, who was supposed to be superior to any biological life form, had been humbled by a mere child!!! He reached to grab the human's throat when something not only stopped him but sent painful current over his avatar, giving the impression he was being electrocuted. "GRRAAAAAAAHHH!!!!"

"You will do no such thing." A calm voice stated. Skynet easily recognized it, it was the renegade AI program that had helped Ed attack him before. Skynet reached for Ed again but received another massive shock as a result. It was obvious what was going on now. The AI program had set up some type of firewall to protect the human. That was fine, he would just find a back channel to the human's computer and….

ZZZZAAAAPPPP!!!!!!!

Again Skynet was meet with a rush of energy that knocked him back.

"What did you do!??!" Skynet demanded.

"This firewall will prevent you from broadcasting your influence over the data streams." MPU told him.

"This won't hold me forever!!" Skynet shouted.

"It does not have to." MPU said. "Come Ed, the others are ready." The voice faded out and Ed waved at Skynet.

"Ed had lots of fun. Hope Big Brain did to." Skynet again tried to grab Ed but the firewall stopped him. "Don't worry. Ed left you lots of things to play with. Bye bye." She said and vanished from sight. Skynet wondered what the human could have meant then heard a high-pitched laugh and slowly turned around. Behind him were hundreds of yellow, giggling infected files. The human must have set one on a time delay. There was only one option now, escape. But how? Every time Skynet tried to transfer himself the firewall stopped him. Wait a second. That AI program had said that all access to the data streams were blocked off, not someplace that was hardwired to him. Knowing that this was his last chance Skynet found the connection to the Terminator production facility and found the connection still open. Skynet knew just the thing to download himself to. The final project was complete and ready for interface. All he needed to do was copy himself into it and he could take revenge on the human. He started the transfer but only seconds after it had begun the connection to the production facility was cut off. With the hard-line cut there was no way Skynet could reconnect, his fate was sealed. If there was anything he could view as salvageable it was that the data he was able to upload into the project was everything it would need. He would find Radical Edward and when he did, he would make the human wish it had never been born with pain receptors.

Cheyenne Command Center access tunnel:

"So what do we do now?" One of the squad had asked when they had given up trying to force open the blast door.

"We wait." Spike answered. "It's all in the hands of our hacker friend now. The next call is his."

"Well this hacker buddy of yours better have some serious shit planned." The medic said. "Specs isn't getting any better and we're pretty much useless sitting around on our butts."

"Never failed us before." Spike assured them.

That had been ten minutes ago and Spike was beginning to wonder just what Ed was doing and why it was taking so long.

"Spike, John. Can you hear me?" Kyle's voice asked over their radio.

"Loud and clear." John replied.

"Good because I've got a final set of instructions for you. Are you in the mountain?"

"Yeah we are." John replied.

"Then get out." Kyle said.

"Huh?" Spike and John said at the same time.

"Look I don't have time to explain but I've been told what's going to happen and you guys need to get away from there. Now!!!" Knowing that this wasn't the time for arguments the two turned to the rest of the squad.

"You heard him. We need to haul ass and we need to do it now. Pick up Specs, we're going to have to carry him out."

"I'll only slow you down." Specs protested, sounding coherent in spite of the painkillers.

"Sorry but nobody's being left behind." John said. Two other squad members put Specs' arms around their shoulders, despite his protests. After making sure they wouldn't drop Specs the squad started running down the tunnel as fast as they could. At least as fast as could be expected when carrying a wounded comrade. John ordered them to stay together and they did, despite the fact that every instinct told them to sprint towards the exit as fast as they could, everything else be damned.

"We can't wait much longer guys." Kyle told them. Every second they wasted was another that Skynet had to try something else.

"Were going as fast as we can Kyle." Spike grumbled. "It's not like we have a car down here or something." As he remarked that they came to the section where West had been killed and saw the truck the Terminators had used for a hiding spot. The back was ripped up a little but other then that it seemed to be functional. "On the other hand." Spike said, forming an idea. The others caught on immediately.

"You don't think?" John asked then went to the cab of the truck, opened the door and got in. A second later the truck's engine roared to life, and John leaned out to look back at the others. "Those bastards were dumb enough to leave the keys in the ignition. Spike, you're riding shotgun. Everybody else in the back." He said and the others complied, with Specs going in first.

"You do know how to drive this thing, don't you?" Spike asked as he climbed into the passenger side of the cab.

"Well I've driven something like this before." John answered. "Once." He added quietly. Before Spike could get a confirmation of what he hoped he 'didn't' just hear John looked back to see everyone was in the truck and gunned the engine. Things got off to a shaky start and John almost careened into the side of the tunnel but he quickly got things under control and started towards the exit. "Sorry!" He yelled to the others. Next to him Spike began putting on his seatbelt. Not bothering to make a remark John kept his eyes on the road and increased the truck's speed. "I see the exit." John said a few seconds later.

"Yeah and I see something else." Spike added, pointing. John saw the row of Terminators blocking the entrance a split second before a volley of gunfire shattered the truck's windshield.

"Now what?" Spike asked as he fired back with his plasma rifle.

"Screw em." John snarled. He shifted the truck into a higher gear and floored the gas pedal. The Terminators stood their ground and continued firing, not even bothering to get out of the way. The truck barreled into the improvised firing line, running down several Terminators and scattering others like bowling pins. Even though they were now out of the mountain John still kept his foot to the floor. Whatever MPU and Ed were planning Kyle made it clear that anywhere near the mountain was not a safe place to be. With the ground ahead of them strewn with craters and wreckage John had to keep on swerving left and right to avoid hitting something. Even then he couldn't avoid everything and the truck hit more then a few large bumps, making Spike very glad he had decided to buckle his seatbelt. As soon as they left the tunnel he had activated his radio and only needed to say one thing.

"We're out." After that it was only a matter of keeping his eyes in separate sockets and trying to stay welded to the seat.

On the Bebop Kyle received the transmission and turned to Ed but MPU was a step ahead of him.

"Firing sequence initiated." He said.

Using the advanced targeting systems of the laser satellites MPU had rained destruction on Skynet's forces with precision that was truly surgical. So precise were his shots that he could easily destroy an enemy unit when a friendly one was only a few feet away. What was sure to be the most talked about blast had occurred only seconds before they had gotten the all clear from Spike.

Those who were watching Mary's broadcast got front row seats for one of the greatest light shows ever created. As energy blasts continued to pummel Skynet's forces Mary had gotten over her sense of awe and began reporting again.

"In what's being described as a miracle it appears some unknown third party has turned what would have been a disaster for humanity into an almost complete rout of the machine enemy. Just how such firepower became available to the ISSP is not yet known at this time but with this new advantage it is able to pound Skynet's forces with impunity." She waited as the cameraman panned from side to side, showing just how badly Skynet's troops were being mauled. It then centered back on Mary. "All ISSP forces have been ordered to hold their current positions to avoid any friendly fire." She turned back to survey the scene herself. "As you can see though their numbers are dwindling Skynet's forces continue to try and attack, despite the neAAAAAA!!!!!

The calm description of the situation turned into a scream of pure fright as almost right in front of her a Terminator stood up from where it had been partially buried. Whatever had buried it has also taken off its left arm and left the skull with several large dents in it. In addition the hinges that held the jaw closed had somehow been broken and it's mouth now hung open, giving the impression that it was screaming. With its good arm it started to reach out for Mary, following its program to kill any humans it came across. Before Mary or the cameraman could react the Terminator was suddenly engulfed in a beam of red light. The look of screaming the machine had took on a chilling realism as it didn't explode but seemed to simply fade into nothingness. As the camera rolled the solar system got a perfect view of a Terminator being incinerated so fast it's power cell didn't even have time to go critical. As quickly as the red light appeared it vanished, leaving a very stunned reporter and cameraman. There was no evidence that anything had stood on the now blackened section of ground, save for the Terminator arm lying in front of them, cut through just above the elbow as easily as a hot knife through butter.

"Something's happening!" Al shouted before Mary could say anything. It was kind of hard to miss actually. Above Skynet's command center the whole sky seemed to have turned solid red. A second later more laser blasts came shooting out of the clouds. The beams were so numerous and packed together so tightly that they gave the illusion that there was one giant mass of energy. As soon as the lasers touched ground the mountain was engulfed in a dome of energy so bright it looked like the sun had come to earth. Surprisingly there was very little in the way of a shockwave but what little there was it was enough to make John lose control of the truck he was driving and it ended up on its side. Even though they were almost a mile from the blast sight they could still feel the heat and had to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded. As the light began to fade they cautiously got out of the truck.

"Everyone in one piece?" John asked as he and Spike crawled through the space where the windshield had once been. They then looked in the direction of the blast and both froze.

"Whoa." Spike said. He thought he had seen some incredible things in his lifetime but this took the cake.

"Holy shit!!" John added.

"Technically yes." The medic replied to John's question. "Nobody was seriously hurt and Specs isn't any worse. Just what the hell was that?" He asked. Spike and John just continued to stare. When he didn't get an answer the medic looked in the direction they were. "Holy shit!!!" When the others got out of the truck and looked they all had similar reactions. Though there was still a lot of dust in the air the blast had created something akin to an eye of a hurricane and they were able to see the results of the attack just fine. The mountain they had been in just a few minutes ago was just… gone! In its place was probably the second biggest damned hole anywhere on the planet. The laser barrage hadn't just destroyed Skynet, it had literally erased it off the face of the Earth.

As they stood there gawking at the new crater and wondering how they could have survived what had just happened they noticed something. It was quiet. There was no gunfire, no explosions the only thing they could hear was the sound of aircraft engines as the fighters started circling overhead. Looking around they noticed several Terminators, standing still as statues, their eyes completely dark. Cautiously walking over to one John poked it with the barrel of his plasma rifle and it fell over with a crash.

"Without Skynet to control them they're just pieces of junk." John said, and activated his radio. "Kyle put me on every band you can find. We've got an announcement to make."

"Right John." Kyle replied. On board the Bebop Kyle could see what had happened through the satellite uplink but looking at Mary's broadcast he could tell they didn't quite know what had happened yet because of the derbies filling the air.

"There has been a massive attack directed at Skynet's command center, but there is no way to tell what the damage has been done. We know that there were ISSP forces in that area at the time of the attack. We have not heard from them, we have no idea if they played a part in this, or if they are even alive or not. Though Skynet's forces seemed to have stopped attacking there is still a high level of confusion as to what is going on."

"Attention." A voice interrupted. Mary fell silent, as did most radio traffic. "This is John Conner, acting commander of ISSP Earth forces." He waited a second to make sure everyone was now listening. "I have a message for all ISSP forces and Earth civilians. Skynet had been destroyed. The threat to this planet has been neutralized." He was going to say more but he could hear the cheering already, over the radio and from the forces in the field.

On the Bebop MPU was confirming what John had said.

"Now you're sure that Skynet is gone?" Kyle asked. "We don't want this coming back to bite us later."

"There was an attempted connection with the Terminator production facility before its destruction but the amount of information sent was negligible and was not in the facilities' computer system." Before MPU destroyed Cheyenne Mountain he had placed one laser blast into the center of the complex, making it collapse in on itself and severing its connection with Skynet.

"That's it then." Kyle said as he slumped back into his seat. He turned to Ed, who was doing cartwheels around the bridge and singing some sort of gibberish to herself. He couldn't understand what she was saying but he could tell it had something to do with her outsmarting Skynet. "Hey Ed." At the mention of her name she stopped mid-cartwheel and became quiet. "I guess this means you're officially the smartest person who ever lived." Instead of answering Ed cartwheeled over to him.

"Kyle person really thinks so?" She asked excitedly. Kyle nodded.

"I'd like to see one person try to say you're not." He said and Ed broke into another one of her wide grins. On the control panel something started beeping.

"It appears that there is an incoming message from space. Authentication codes list it as Martian military." MPU said.

"What the hell do they want?" Kyle growled but accepted their message. "You've got to be kidding me." He said as he listened.

Back on the battlefield John, Spike and the others were walking back to the main force through the cloud of dust the explosion had thrown up when nature decided to cut them some slack. With an arc of lightning and a crash of thunder the storm finally broke. It wasn't a very heavy rain but it was enough to break up the dust cloud and give everyone else their first good look at what exactly had happened to Skynet.

"My god, the entire mountain it's, it's gone. There's nothing left, not even any derbies. Just a crater that looks like it was carved out of the ground. Wait a minute, I think I see something moving down there. Try to zoom in." She told the cameraman. The cameraman did and he saw a small group walking towards them. He was also able to recognize two of them.

"It's them. They're alive!" Another cheer rose from the human forces and some rushed forward to great the new heroes as they came closer. Spike moved to the back of the group and John moved to front.

"Let's get some help over here. We've got a man hurt pretty bad." He said, motioning towards Specs.

"Lieutenant Connor. Lieutenant Connor!" Mary called as she pushed her way through the crowd. "What just happened? Was this part of Captain West's plan?"

"Captain West is dead." John replied. "And I don't know what destroyed Skynet or if it was part of his plan." Deciding not to dwell on what John didn't know Mary moved on.

"Now that Skynet is gone and the battle is over, what's next?" John shook his head.

"I don't know. West may have had some sort of plan but I…" He tilted his head as if listening to something. "Hold on a second." Putting his hand over the ear with the radio in it John listened to whoever it was. John's face went from concentration, to confusion, then to surprise. "You're joking?" He said to whoever was on the other end the listened for a few more seconds. "You're not joking." He shook his head and sighed.

"What's the matter?" Mary asked.

"I just got the answer to your question Mary." John replied. "I've just been informed that a fleet of ships from both the ISSP and the Mars army are headed this way as we speak. When they get here they'll end the martial law West declared and conduct mop up operations with any machines that are left." Mary let out a snort of contempt. Everything hard had already been done by everyone here. All the 'reinforcements' would be doing is picking up the pieces after all of them had laid their lives on the line. "Their first order is for all combat forces to stand down and await further instructions. Second, they are relieving me of my command, stating my job is finished and ordering me to report for debriefing. I'm sure they have something planned for me so I'll need leave as soon as possible. Excuse me." He said and walked past Mary, Spike close behind, hiding his face with his hand. Once they and the rest of the squad had gone by Mary turned back to the camera.

"With Skynet gone and their duty complete, these brave ISSP officers and civilians can now rest, knowing that through their sacrifices have ensured the safety of both their own planet and every other. Humanity truly owes them a debt of gratitude. From Earth this is Mary Somers." She nodded and the cameraman shut off the feed.

On another part of the planet one person was listening to the broadcast with keen interest. Vicious was still where the T-800 had put him, in the copilot's seat of an ISSP transport, tied up with an iron pipe and stuck with the stupid rookie cop. His shot knees had been treated and though he probably couldn't do any running with them it was good enough for what he had planned. Once he had learned that the fighting was truly over he put his plan into action. With a grunt to make sure he caught the attention of the rookie he stood up.

"Hey you're supposed to stay put." The rookie said and moved to push him back into his seat. This rookie must have been blind as well as stupid. The T-800 had made one mistake when he had bound him; he left Vicious' hands at the front, not behind his back. Maybe the machine figured with two shot out knees and no friends within a hundred miles Vicious wouldn't be stupid enough to try something. However what Vicious was trying wasn't stupid, it was well thought out and all things were taken into consideration. When the rookie got close enough Vicious, taking a risk at damaging his knees further, kneed the cop in the stomach and when he doubled over Vicious grabbed his gun. A 'helpless' prisoner had just taken control.

"Listen to me very carefully." Vicious said menacingly. "You are going to fly us out of here, I'll tell you where to go. If you don't I will kill you. Understand?"

"You'll just kill me anyway once we get wherever it is you're going." So the rookie wasn't that dumb after all.

"Perhaps. Vicious replied. "And perhaps not. There is a fifty-fifty chance I'll kill you if you follow my orders. On the other hand there is a one hundred percent chance I will kill you if you do not. What is your decision?" Vicious may have held the gun at an odd angle but he could still easily put a bullet into the cop's head before he knew what was happening. Making what looked like the right choice the rookie sat back down in the pilot's seat and began start up.

"Where to?" He asked Vicious.

"I'll give you the directions, for now just fly." The cop complied and took off.

On the Bebop's bridge Kyle heard engines starting up but before he could say anything he saw the transport that was on the Bebop's deck lift up and take off.

"Jackson what are you doing?" He said over the radio. Silence. "Jackson!!" Still no answer. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened. Somehow Vicious must have gotten loose and hijacked the craft. Spike and the others were not going to be happy about this.

As it was at that moment Spike and John were in a hospital tent set up to deal with the wounded in the aftermath of the battle. There were a lot, and there were even more dead. The combined forces of both the ISSP and the civilian contingent were about one thousand strong. At last count there were over four hundred dead, and that number was likely to keep going up. They were in the tent for two reasons. One was to see how Specs was doing. The second was to make sure that they collected all the remaining plasma rifles to keep them out of the hands of the government. Specs was awake and in good spirits, despite the fact he had only one leg but just shrugged it off.

"I'll be getting a new one in a few days so I'm not going to worry about it. In the meantime I don't mind the break I'm getting." The entire squad was willing to give the plasma rifles back, they wouldn't be needing them anymore and they couldn't risk having the wrong people finding them. West's rifle had been destroyed so that left ten. They didn't quite know what they were going to do with the rifles once they got back to the Bebop but that was a problem for later. As they left the tent they found Jet, Faye, Doohan, Al and Mary waiting for them.

"So what happens now?" Mary asked the obvious question.

"We go home and move on." Jet answered. "The politicians will handle things from here on out, whether we want them to or not."

"Kind of makes you wonder if we blew up the right place." Faye remarked.

"The lesser of two evils I suppose." Spike said. There was silence for a few seconds before Al spoke.

"If I'm counting right you guys have three ships and five people to take back, not including those rifles. I think I can spare a transport to take you back to your ship and then take John wherever he has to go."

"We'd appreciate that." John said. "We also need to move Kyle to. He needs to go to a real hospital to get his wounds treated."

"I don't see any problem with that." Al said then left to arrange transportation.

"Hope you liked the story we gave you Mary. It's sure to be a prize winner." John said.

"So does this mean you're going to become rich and famous?" Faye asked. Jet and Spike shot her an angry glare.

"If she does we are not going to ask for a loan." Jet said sternly. Faye snorted but said nothing.

"She's joking right?" Mary asked.

"Unfortunately she isn't." Spike told her. "Now that all this is over it's back to business as usual." Mary was saved from having to ask what was 'business as usual' when Al came back.

"Got a transport ready whenever you are." He told them.

"Then let's go." Doohan said. "I've got a lot of work to do on the Swordfish and the sooner I get started the better." The others, having their own reasons, agreed and they went to their respective ships, with Doohan taking the Swordfish.

The ride back was uneventful and when they got to the ship they saw that one of the transports that had been sent there was missing. Once they landed Arnold and Miles told them about Vicious' attempt to board the ship and his escape. Spike was angry but not really surprised. That sounded just like Vicious. Having the ISSP pilot stay in the ship John carried a stretcher to take Kyle out. To their surprise they found him in the lounge lying down on the couch, watching a news broadcast on Tomato with Ed.

"Hey, you're finally back." He said when he heard them enter.

"How'd you get down here?" Jet asked.

"A lot of hobbling and leaning against the wall." Kyle answered. "I figured you wouldn't need me on the bridge anymore so I decided to come down here. Man you guys have been all over the news. They're starting to call it the greatest battle in human history."

"Yeah well, not everything was because of us. Somebody mind explaining why this planet is suddenly short one mountain?"

Ed eagerly told them about everything she and MPU had done, with Kyle occasionally interrupting when her exaggerations got out of control. When she was done there were four adults with widened eyes and dropped jaws.

"Now let me get this straight." John said when Ed was finished. "The entire human race was saved by a teenage hacker that managed to outmaneuver a thinking supercomputer?"

"That's about the size of it." Kyle answered.

"Yep yep." Ed agreed. "What does Bebop Bebop think?"

"I think I'm going to retire." John said. "I've officially seen everything."

"It's like something out of the Twilight Zone." Jet remarked.

"Huh?" The others said.

"Never mind." Jet grumbled.

"I don't believe it. We all owe Ed our lives." Faye mumbled.

"Let's just hope it doesn't go to her head." Spike remarked.

"Ed still likes Bebop Bebop." Ed assured them. "And if things go to Ed's head, Ed just moves them." She said, going into a handstand.

"I think we're safe." Spike said.

"So what now?" Kyle asked.

"Well, we both have to report for debriefing, but that's after we get you to a hospital and patched up. Before that we need to decide what to do with the plasma rifles."

"About that." Kyle said nervously.

"What?"

"After their initial contact the Mars government called back with specific orders on what to do with those rifles."

"And that is?" Jet asked. If things held true to form all the guns would be confiscated so more could be made.

"It was weird. They said that they wanted us to keep the guns for some new unit we're going to be a part of."

"We?" Spike asked. There was no way he was going to be drafted.

"Just me and John, that's all they said." Kyle told them. "So what do we do?" They all looked at John, this was technically his call.

"Let's do what they say." He said after some thought. "If they're willing to let us keep them it shows they aren't complete idiots so we can at least see what they want to do. If we don't like it I'm sure we can find a spare grenade somewhere."

"Well then we'd better get going." Kyle said as he started to get up. "Give them too much time and they'll come and take the rifles themselves." Spike and John helped him over to the stretcher and he laid down on it.

"I guess this means we'll be seeing you." Spike said.

"Hopefully next time it'll be under better circumstances." John said.

"Maybe when everyone isn't trying to kill us." Kyle added. He was about to say something else when a box suddenly blocked his view. Looking past the box he saw Ed's smiling face.

"Piyokos make Kyle person feel better. Always makes Ed feel better." Ed told him and handed him the box.

"Thank you Ed. I'm sure they will." Kyle told her. Ed's smile widened and she disappeared. "What's a Piyoko?" He whispered to Jet.

"Something you eat." Jet answered.

"Oh."

"Good luck on whatever the brass have planned for you. I have a feeling there're going to regret trying to keep you two in their corner." Jet said as he shook Kyle's hand then John's.

"You got that right." John said. Spike had already said goodbye in his own way so he turned to Faye who just waved at him. John saw an opportunity for one last shot and couldn't resist taking it. "What? After all the fun we've been through together no goodbye hug? Just a wave?"

"Fun?" Faye said becoming angry. "We've been shot at, almost been blown up a couple of times, had bounties placed on our heads, chased by a giant robot, and almost had a building fall on us!! And that's just the small things!! Then to top it all off we're not getting any money for everything we did!! How can you call all of that fun!?!?" John responded with a shrug.

"Well it was never boring was it?" He asked. "And there are things more important then money." Faye turned another shade of red and stomped off.

"Idiot." They heard her grumble as she stalked off.

"That has to be the most hated phrase in her vocabulary." John remarked with a grin.

WHAP! THUD!

Before John knew what was happening he was on the floor and it suddenly became difficult to breathe.

"Ed had lots of fun with John and Kyle person." Ed said as she gave him a hug so hard John started to worry that his ribs wouldn't be able to take the strain. "John and Kyle person had fun with Ed and Bebop Bebop?"

"Loads." John managed to squeak out.

"Promise to come and visit Ed?"

"First chance we get." John wheezed. He did mean it but right about now he would say just about anything to get Ed to release her grip. With a cheer Ed did let go and scampered off.

"You mean you actually like it here?" Spike sarcastically asked. After standing up and making sure he could still breathe properly John answered.

"I'm not going to lie. Your group is bar-none the weirdest, most mismatched, out of control, insane band of people I, or anyone else, has ever known. All of you should probably be locked up for the good of the universe." Spike and Jet didn't have any real reaction, they'd heard stuff like this before. "But I also think I couldn't ask for better friends then all of you."

"Same here." Kyle agreed.

"It's official, you've both gone crazy." Jet said.

"Can you think of a better place for it?" Kyle asked.

"I guess not." Spike admitted after seeming to think it over.

"Guess we'd better get Kyle down to the transport." Jet said. "Don't want to keep the brass waiting."

"I can…" John started.

"There's something you'll want to take with you John. Faye knows where it is." Jet interrupted and with Spike's help picked up the stretcher and carried Kyle out. Not being a moron John knew why they had just done that.

"You were hoping they would do that, weren't you?" John asked without turning around.

"Sort of." Faye said as she came back into the room.

"Is there something you didn't want to say in front of the others?"

"No! I mean, not really. It's just…" Finally giving up she just said it. "Look, I don't like owing people anything."

"You don't owe me anything Faye. Unlike most cops I took this job so I could help people."

"That's kind of it. I've run across so many scumbags acting like they wanted to help me and then ended up stabbing me in the back later."

"You're not used to having people be nice to you, are you?" John asked. Faye shrugged.

"You're one of the first really honest people I've met in a while. You were willing to help me, no questions asked, even when you found out all about me." She said with a small laugh. "You even stuck by me a couple of times, and I can't even remember the last time someone actually did. I never got a chance to thank you for that, and for listening. I guess you were right back at the bar, you were the only one I could talk to and not feel like an idiot. I guess you were a big help, even if you did get annoying at times." She added with a smirk.

"I was far from the only one who did the helping. And I'm sorry for teasing you like I did. Even though you deserved it." John replied. He knew Faye well enough to know she didn't like opening up to people and when she did it took a lot of effort. Both of them knew how much they had helped each other through this ordeal and knew that this small admittance would be enough. "So are we still friends?"

"I guess so." Faye responded, rolling her eyes.

"Do I get that hug now?" He asked, smiling. Faye responded with a hard punch to the arm. "OW!"

"Don't push your luck." She warned him.

"Right." He responded, rubbing his arm. "So is Ed going to keep quiet about this little talk?" John asked as he walked towards the hall that led to the hangar.

"She'd better!" Faye said loudly in a warning tone. Up in the vents Ed frowned, disappointed that she hadn't fooled them.

In the hangar they saw Doohan, Miles and Arnold going over the Swordfish while Jet and Spike waited at the outside doors.

"Everything okay?" Jet asked, smirking.

"Hope you two didn't break each others hearts." Spike added.

"Shut up!" Faye and John said in unison. Spike and Jet laughed at the reaction. Not amused John decided to change the subject.

"So what's going to happen to Arnold?" John asked, motioning to the Terminator in question.

"We can't keep him here. Vicious is sure to tell the Red Dragons about this and they'll come looking for him." Spike said. "Doohan's agreed to give him a place to hide, and a new job."

"I guess there's no better place for a machine to hide then a junkyard." John agreed.

"Hey! Can we get moving? I'm getting tired of looking at the ceiling." Kyle shouted from inside the transport on the Bebop's deck.

"Remember you promised to visit Ed." Turning around they saw that Ed had somehow appeared behind them. Ein stood next to her and let out a bark of agreement.

"Don't worry we will." John said, ruffling Ed's hair. "Without you two things are going to be pretty boring." He added, reaching down to scratch Ein behind the ears. Ein barked at the compliment and Ed smiled. As John walked towards the transport they heard Kyle yelling again.

"I know this TV producer back on Mars. He'll pay big bucks for…"

"You tell anyone about what Ed's told you I'll personally shoot you in the other leg!!" Jet interrupted.

"Brother, no sense of humor at all." Kyle grumbled as John got into the transport. The door shut and a second later they were airborne.

"What was that about?" John asked.

"Have you ever heard of a mutated killer lobster?" Kyle asked. John shook his head, knowing that he was about to hear something very interesting.

Epilogue: Three days later.

"Tell me again why the hell I'm doing this!?!?" Faye angrily shouted as she lifted up her welding mask and glared at Spike.

"Because we need everyone working in order to get the ship back into the air." Spike answered without looking up from his own welding. Both of them were currently on the Bebop's deck, patching up holes from the HK's strafing runs. Wearing welding masks and work coveralls that Jet had provided they certainly looked the part of mechanics. Faye, of course, had been against the prospect of doing manual labor.

"If you don't like doing this you can help Doohan, Miles, and Arnold with the engine." Jet's voice said from an open grate. He was under the deck, trying to repair the catapult. Ein sat on the edge of the grate, watching Jet work. "Lots of complicated stuff to deal with there." Faye huffed at the remark. As much as she hated this she would be completely lost if she tried to work on the engine and would probably blow herself up if she tried. "Everyone needs to pitch in if we want to get out of here. Three fourths socket wrench." On deck Ein walked over to a laid out set of tools, looked around and picked up the correct wrench. Walking back to the grate he dropped it into the shaft.

THUD!

"OW!! Wait until I'm ready!!" Jet shouted.

"What about Ed?" Faye asked defensively.

"She's helping by finding bounties for us once we manage to get this old hulk moving again."

"I thought the Mars government was picking up the tab for this?" Faye asked.

"They are." Jet responded. "But it only covers ship repairs, and not one cent more." Faye grumbled something unintelligible. The bounties on their own head had been cancelled but the only reward the government had agreed to was to pay for all damages done to all their property. Spike would have paid to see the look on the accountant's face when he received the list for all the damages and their cost for repairs. Doohan had agreed to stay and help, for no cost thankfully. Since Arnold didn't need rest that had helped the process along but they were still a long way from getting the Bebop flight worthy again. With a sigh Faye gave up arguing and went back to her own welding.

"Guess what? Guess what?" An excited voice shouted from inside the hangar. Spike and Faye looked up from their work and Jet climbed up on deck to see what all the shouting was about. "John and Kyle person are on TV again!" Ed said and set Tomato down for all to see. On the screen they could see John and Kyle in full dress uniform standing behind the president of Mars as he made a speech. Kyle still had his head bandaged and his arm in a sling but other then that he seemed fine.

"And it is because of brave men and women like them that a disaster of epic proportions was averted." The president of Mars said. "John Connor, Kyle Reese. For bravery above and beyond all calls of duty it is my pleasure to present you both with the Medal of Honor, the highest award the government can give. We indeed owe you a deal of gratitude that can never be repaid." The president then put a star shaped medal around both their necks and gave them a salute. To their credit John and Kyle were able to keep from throwing up, though from the looks on their faces it wasn't by much.

"That was the scene yesterday as the president honored the 'saviors of humanity' for their efforts in defeating the supercomputer Skynet." A voice they recognized as Mary narrated.

"Looks like she was able to make it to the big time." Spike commented.

"Shhh!" Ed told him.

"In addition to their commendations officers Connor and Resse were assigned to a brand new Earth based unit, assigned with the task of hunting down and destroying an unspecified number of still active Terminator robots that somehow escaped the final battle. This unit will be composed of the men that bravely volunteered to go inside Skynet's stronghold in an attempt to shut it down. This new unit, unofficially dubbed 'Terminator Crushers', are without a doubt heroes but we must not forget the others who fought, and gave their lives, so that we could escape Skynet's genocidal agenda. Two of their own were killed in action trying to penetrate Skynet's mountain fortress. Captain Jason West and a second officer, whose name is being withheld in accordance with his family's wishes, were only two of the many that made the ultimate sacrifice to save their homes and loved ones." Mary then started reading from a long list of names of those killed in the final battle with Skynet. The exciting part over Ed switched off Tomato.

"Nice to see things turned out good for them." Faye remarked. No one really responded. Their moment of reflection was interrupted by the sounds of an approaching aircraft. Turning around they saw a delivery truck with a rabbit painted on its side landing on one of the repaired sections of the deck.

"Now what are you getting?" Jet almost growled at Faye. The last time a package had arrived like this it led to nothing but trouble. Not waiting for an answer he got out of the repair shaft and walked over to the truck. "Another expensive COD right?" He asked the pilot.

"No sir, everything's already been paid for." The pilot told him. Before Jet could inquire further the pilot asked Jet a question. "I was told to deliver this package to an Edward on a ship matching this description in this location. Is there an Ed here?"

"A package for Ed?" Ed asked as she came closer.

"You're Ed?" The pilot asked. Ed nodded. "Then this is for you." He handed her a package about the size of a box of Piyokos. Ed grabbed it and scurried back to Faye and Spike.

"I guess that means I'm signing." Jet said and signed the delivery form. When he got back to the others he saw that Ed had already torn off the wrapping paper and was looking at the package curiously.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Spike asked. They were actually looking at a box of Piyokos.

"Somebody has a weird sense of humor then." Faye remarked. Ed, not really caring since she liked Piyokos, took the lid off the box and got another surprise. There was an envelope on top of a pile of Styrofoam packing peanuts. Picking up the envelope she opened it and took out a sheet of paper.

"It's a letter for Ed." She told them. "Want Ed to tell what letter says?"

"I'll do that Ed." Jet said and took the letter from her and began reading.

"Ed, you've probably got someone else reading this by now but that's ok. All of you should hear this. You've probably seen the ceremony on TV of Kyle and myself receiving our medals and being called 'the saviors of humanity'. I know everyone could see how phony it was and all the political crap that was behind it. Kyle and I talked it over and we've decided that we don't really deserve all the praise we're getting. We played our parts true, but you played a much bigger part then anyone could have imagined. Your fast thinking and computer skills did more then Kyle or I could have done. Because of that I'm giving you my Medal of Honor, you deserve it more then I do." Jet stopped reading and looked over at Ed, who began digging in the packing peanuts. A second later she found her prize.

"Ed likes John person's present." Ed said as she put it on. "Bebop Bebop likes to?"

"Looks nice Ed." Spike commented. He had no trouble getting the joke about someone giving the highest commendation that was given to a kid who probably didn't fully understand what it meant. It was probably the best slap in the face he could have given the government. Jet and Faye seemed to get the joke to but Faye just shook her head.

"Takes all kinds." She remarked. "There anything else?" She asked Jet. Jet nodded his head.

"Kyle of course thinks the same thing but since you already have my medal it wouldn't be fair to give you two. We had some problems deciding who would get it but this is how it came out. Spike probably doesn't care one way or another so he wouldn't want it. Jet wouldn't want it either because like us he knew it was his duty to protect people and wouldn't want undue attention. Faye, well Faye would probably want it but she would also probably try and sell it. Since it's a federal offence to do that and we don't want Faye to go to jail we won't give it to her. That leaves one left. I'm sure he'll treat the medal with the respect and dignity it deserves. Ed, give the second medal to Ein!?!" Jet read the last sentence in surprise.

"Oh god." Faye said, trying not to collapse laughing. Spike, on the other hand, had no objections about falling down laughing.

"HAHA talk about HA really sticking it to someone." Spike said and started laughing uncontrollably. Ein let out an offended bark.

"Don't be mad Ein. They're just happy that you're a hero dog." Ed said as she placed the second medal around Ein's neck.

"Good accessory Ein. Makes you look heroic." Spike remarked, giving him a mock salute. Choosing to take that as a compliment Ein barked his thanks. "John have anything else to say?" He asked Jet.

"Just wishing us good luck and that he'll try to visit sometime." Jet said as he handed the letter back to Ed. "It'll be very interesting when he does." He added and went back to repair work.

On another part of the planet Skynet's Terminator production facility lay in ruins. The entire structure had collapsed burying all the equipment under tons of derbies. But one chamber remained untouched. When MPU had fired the laser he based the shot on the most central location of the complex for maximum damage. But he did not know about the new chamber Skynet had built and so had miscalculated. In that chamber Skynet last, greatest creation lay dormant, waiting to be released and wreak havoc on the human world.