Animatrix - Cain and Abel (Matrix crossover)

[Stravo]

OK, Ok, someone's going to say, gee, you're crazy. But the latest debates regarding T3 and my favorite movie so far this summer have inspired this little nugget. Please enjoy.



THE ANIMATRIX

CAIN AND ABEL



Damien adjusted his black shades as he finished knocking on the thick fireproof door of the tenement house. He could hear the screams of babies all around him, the sound of older children running up and down the halls. A woman was shouting an incoherent steam of Spanish at someone. Music thumped overhead like helicopter blades shaking the very walls of the hallway.

The door had a peephole and he heard it slide open.

Damien nodded to the peephole.

“You asked to see me?” He asked seriously. He was reassured by the weight and feel of his gun under his left armpit.

The peephole slid shut again and there was the sound of at least four different locks coming loose, a chain being pulled away and then the final solid thump of a bolt being slid back.

He wished he could have checked on one last time with Frag, but there was no longer any time.

The door was pulled open harshly and a tall man stood in the doorway. He wore shades as well and a black leather biker jacket and there was no doubt that in his left hand he held an Uzi.

Damien smiled good naturedly and held up his hands.

“It’s OK, friends, remember?”

The stern looking man glanced back from Damien to further down the hall.

“Come in.” the man’s voice was flat and emotionless, but there was a hint of accent, couldn’t quite place it.

Damien against all better sense stepped into the apartment.

He walked past the gunman and watched as the gunman closed the door and closed all the locks, slipped the chain back on the door and slid the bolt into place with a definitive thump. He swallowed slightly and walked down an almost impossibly long hall towards a living room.

He entered the living room cautiously. A single large round table with wooden chairs stood in the center of the living room, other than that he could not see furniture. There was a woman and another man that looked exactly like the gunmen.

“Whoa.” Damien said and looked back at the other gunmen that was right behind him.

“He is alone. He is also armed with a nine millimeter barreta and a stiletto knife on the back of his waist.” The gunman stated emotionlessly.

“They are of no consequence.” The woman stated and her voice was like ice, unlike the gunmen. There was a palpable malevolence to her.

“Uhh…last time I checked you contacted us. Let’s clear the air on the hostility.”

“There is no hostility, we are cautious.” The woman replied and indicated for him to sit down.

Damien shook his head.

“That’s Ok. Now, can we get down to business. My friends in the Ivory tower were extremely interested in your package. They sent me to make contact and find out more about you.”

“We are interested in learning more of your city but we are most interested in your files on the enemy.”

Damien nodded slowly, his eyes kept tracking between the gunmen. They were identical, right down to the shades and jacket, save that the one closest to the woman was toting a strange looking rifle.

“We would be happy to do so, but there are suspicions that you may just be another ploy by our enemy to have us drop our defenses.”

The woman shook her head.

“We are not part of them, nor would we want to be. They are an alien entity that needs to be eliminated. Their very presence is a threat to us.”

“What also concerns us is just where the hell you guys came from. I mean its been generations and now you suddenly appear offering an alliance. This is most troubling to many of our military men.”

“You are also concerned about our true identity. What we are disturbs you.” She replied.

Damien nodded.

“That’s right, direct aren’t you?”

“We have no need or time for niceties. These human traits are troublesome to duplicate and unlike the enemy we have no illusions as to what we are.”

“I don’t think they do either.”

She looked around the room.

“This place says otherwise.”

Damien frowned.

“There is a purpose to this place.”

She locked eyes with him.

“We know otherwise.”

Damien nodded.

“And that’s what interests us most of all. What do you know about the Matr—”

His phone rang. It was loud inside the apartment and all three of the strangers paused strangely. The gunmen with the strange rifle paused and cocked his head as if listening to a far off sound.

Damien grabbed his phone and in one smooth motion flipped it on.

“Go.”

“Heads up Agents on the way.”

“Fuck me.”

“Not for a million bucks, now get your ass out of there.”

Damien opened his mouth to speak when the gunman with the weird rifle spoke.

“Security avatars are inbound estimate contact in 10 seconds.”

“Initiate security protocols, 101A secure the door, 101B prepare emergency portal.”

“Acknowledged.” Both gunmen replied simultaneously.

“Secure the door? We have to get out of here those are agents.”

“The security avatars will be dealt with until we can activate the emergency portal.”

“Emergency portal? We need to get a hard line right now to get out of here.”

She peered over to the hallway and back at him.

“You have our methods and we have ours.”

The door shuddered hard on impact. The gunman at the door stepped back and unleashed a burst from the Uzi.

“That’s not going to do any good.” Damien snapped and rushed over to the window. There was a fire escape that seemed to descend downward like a cage of old iron. He saw a shape coming up the fire escape, moving like a panther, black suit and tie whipping in the wind.

“Oh shit.” Damien hissed and jumped back in as the first bullets whizzed by his head.

The door crumpled inward and an agent stepped into the hallway with a grim expression. The gunman fired another burst from his Uzi. The Agent seemed to warp and blur as it dodged the rest of the Uzi burst at near point blank range, at some points it even looked as if the agent were looking back at the path of the bullets.

The gunman without hesitation cast aside his Uzi.

“Standard weaponry ineffective, switching to physical assault mode.” The gunmen stated. He was sure that it was for the benefit of his companions and no one else. The gunman then did something that Damien did not expect. He reached out and grabbed the agent by the shoulders and slammed him through the near wall of the hall – through the wall.

Damien paused.

That was shocking.

The other agent appeared at the window and fired into the apartment.

Without thinking, on pure instinct Damien was in motion and the world slowed down for him. The reports of the agents gun became like distant thunder and suddenly he could see the deadly bullets swarming in like hornets, trailing distorted air. He moved and he was like lightning, the bullets were passing him by, one nearly tagged his arm.

The woman caught two in her back as she was bending over to pick up a heavy case. She expressed no pain or surprise. Damien finished whipping around and leveled his gun at the agent in the window and fired. The agent blurred and distorted as Damien emptied his clip.

“This is not good.” Damien muttered. He needed a hard line fast.

The other gunmen brought his strange looking rifle up and fired. The blast was deafening as a plasma round exploded against the window. The entire far wall erupted outward as the gunman continued a steady burst then stopped. He watched the smoke and debris for a moment as the woman stood up and nodded to the gunmen. Damien noted with some concern her back. Instead of blood her flesh seemed to ripple like liquid metal and the wounds were gone.

“Modified plasma rifle extremely effective.” The gunman commented.

“How are you guys getting out of here?”

“The portal is standing by on the roof.”

“Then I guess I’m with you guys.”

“You cannot come with us. The portal is not designed for human transit.”

“Well, I’ll need some fire power like what you’re toting right now if I’m going to get out of here alive.”

The gunman and woman exchanged hooded expressions.

“Come with us then if you want to live.”

The second gunmen came striding into the living room.

“The security avatar has been physically damaged. We have a few seconds.”

“Then let us go.” The woman ordered and promptly stepped out the ruined wall and onto the fire escape. The first gunman followed, the second pushed Damien forward.

Damien followed them up the fire escape as they climbed quickly and effortlessly. He pulled out his cell phone again.

“Frag?”

“Alright I can’t believe what I just saw.”

“Try actually being here. Can you get me a hard line?”

“Across the courtyard, the phone in the apartment right under the black chimney.”

“Thanks a lot.” Damien smirked.

“Hey, you try hacking these lines on the fly my man – oh shit!”

Bullets whizzed by his head. Damien ducked and reloaded his gun as the gunmen behind him turned around and faced the agent at the bottom of the previous fire escape stairwell. The agent fired right into the gunman. Damien heard the thick wet impacts but the gunman did not flinch. Instead it gripped the wrought iron railing and pulled it clean off its mounting with a harsh squeal and leapt down to face the agent. It whipped the iron railing into the agent’s head. The agent grunted and fell back against the far part of the fire escape.

“This is way too weird.” Damien muttered and followed the other two up the last flight of fire escape ladders up. An agent appeared at the lip of the roof and fired a volley into the lead gunman, same effect as the other one, the hits were solid but the gunmen kept on going. He paused long enough to fire his plasma rifle. The agent ducked back out of the way but the entire side of the roof lip exploded.

“I will initiate combat mode. You set the portal.”

“Acknowledged.”

The woman suddenly leapt upwards and disappeared over the lip of the roof. The gunman took her briefcase and continued on the last ladder. Damien followed and paused to look back down just in time to see the agent the other gunman was fighting grab hold of the iron railing and pull the gunman over the fire escape. The gunman had enough presence of mind to grab a firm hold of the agent and they both tumbled end over end down to the street, pummeling on each other the whole way down until they crashed into a parked car several stories below.

The car imploded on impact and Damien shook his head.

“Poor bastard.”

“Hurry.” The other gunman urged as he stepped over the lip of the roof and disappeared. Damien jumped the rest of the way and landed right on the lip in time to see the woman deliver a spinning round house kick to another agent. The agent went flailing backwards but landed on its hands, flexed and leapt back at the woman.

She planted herself firmly and sent her hand out, open palmed right into the agent’s body. Damien heard the impact from where he was. Another agent bulled through the door and charged into the fray.

The other gunmen knelt down and opened the briefcase.

“Aren’t you going to help her?”

The gunman did not look up at him as he set something up within the briefcase, strange lights were flashing from within.

“Her offensive capabilities are superior to mine.” He replied.

“Well I’ll help her then.” Damien snapped and leapt down and charged into the brawl. The woman was grabbed from behind by one agent while the other punched her in the gut. He held her head up by the air.

“We suspect what you are. You will tell us what we need to know.”

The woman did not respond instead she butted her head backwards savagely into the agent’s face that was holding her from behind. Damien launched a flying kick at the agent standing in front of her.

The agent seemed to know he was attacking and turned at his waist blocking Damien’s kick with one hand. Damien recovered and whipped his hand around in a round house punch. The punch had no time to connect as the woman suddenly seemed to flow out of the restraining agent’s grip and punched the agent Damien was attacking.

The agent stumbled backwards.

“Offensive capabilities of the invaders is high. We need to pool our resources.”

“Reinforcements have arrived.” A third agent stated as he stepped through the battered door.

“It will do you no good.” The woman stated grimly as she slashed out with her right hand and as it moved Damien saw her hand quickly morph into a blade and decapitate the agent that had been restraining her.

“Okay, maybe she doesn’t need help.” Damien noted with awe.

“The portal is set.” The other gunman reported. A glowing white portal was humming right over the briefcase.

“A portable hard line?” Damien muttered.

The woman whipped her leg around striking the third agent and sending him crashing against a brick chimney. It broke apart on impact and the agent’s sunglasses broke and slipped off his face.

“Inform your people that the choice must be soon. If we do not hear from them in the allotted time we will continue with out plans and consider your faction irrelevant.” The woman stated as she strode past Damien.

“Uh, a little help?” He asked as the gunman waited for her to step through the portal and then stepped through himself. The briefcase sparked and exploded. The white portal flickered and winked out of existence.

“Help?” Damien asked as three agents gathered. He turned to the agents and smiled weakly.

“I think I’ll be going now.”

The agents all reached into their jackets. Damien was in motion. He turned and raced for the edge of the courtyard. He saw the window under the black chimney and aimed for that. The agents fired as he leapt out into the yawning opening of the courtyard. The bullets sailed by him in a cloud of steel, humming like angry hornets as he twisted in midair. He crashed through the window and landed on his back, firing his baretta back out the window at the agents. As soon as his gun clicked empty he leapt up and pickled up the ringing phone in the kitchen.

The woman cooking in her kitchen stood shocked staring at him when she was suddenly convulsed and screamed and morphed into an agent extending his gun. That image vanished into a sea of digitized green code.






The patrol of sentinels passed through the ruined cityscape, metallic tentacles trailing behind them as if caught in an invisible breeze. They moved as one, weaving between the fossilized ruins with cold precision.

They passed one particularly tall building, every window had been blown out and most it was burned and blasted. How it still stood after all this time was a mystery. They passed by this building as they always did on patrol, their glowing red eyes searching for any sign of their enemy.

They were not expecting another enemy altogether.

Inside the ruined skyscraper were four silver predatory ships hovering on two over sized engines swept out from the main body of the vessel. The drone of their engines silenced by both modifications and the high whipping winds that howled at this height.

The moment the sentinels passed the four hunter killers engines twisted forward and they surged forward out of one of the gaping holes in the side of the skyscraper. They quickly accelerated and locked onto to the sentinels. One of the sentinels picked up the new signals and instantly relayed its warnings to the others.

The warning came too late.

The Hunter Killers opened up with under the nose plasma casters. Intense red bolts lanced out in machine gun like fire at the sentinels. Two of them shuddered hard, their armor melting away into hot red shards. They plummeted downward into the ruined cityscape below. The other two sentinels climbed upward sharply and their tentacles fanned open aggressively. The Hunter killers spread out quickly.

One of the sentinels caught a Hunter Killer as it tried to climb after them. The sentinel’s tentacles quickly wrapped around the silver hull of the ship and it positioned itself over the center of the ship, mandibles twitched spastically suddenly a thick red particle beam lanced out of the sentinel’s head right into the Hunter Killer’s hull chewing through the armor plating.

The ship sputtered, its engines refusing to function and the Hunter Killer began to plummet downward. The Sentinel released its grip on the stricken Hunter Killer but before it could do anything else it was struck by a stream of plasma fire. Its tentacles sheered clean off by the blasts the Sentinel exploded.

The last sentinel dove down into the cityscape pursued by the Hunter Killers. The Sentinel moved deftly between the buildings, through gaps and alley ways as the Hunter Killers were forced high above the tighter spaces, firing an occasional burst down at the fleeing sentinel.

It began an immediate data transmission of it current position and status. The Hunter Killers picked up the transmissions and started jamming operations. One of the Hunter Killers accelerated hard and fast, pulling away from the others.

The Sentinel continued its evasion of the hunters searching for the nearest sentinel patrol for reinforcements. It did not see the ambush until too late. The lone Hunter Killer that had pulled ahead suddenly dropped down in the center of a intersection and poured a murderous fusillade at the sentinel coming up a side street.

The Sentinel hurtled ahead, several of its tentacles shorn away by the plasma blasts, half its red eyes punched out, but it managed to crash into the Hunter Killer, its remaining tentacles desperately scrabbled along the front surface of the Hunter Killer, peeling away armor plating.

The Hunter Killer pulled up quickly, engines straining to accelerate as quickly as possible. The sentinel’s tentacles snaked into the exposed systems revealed by the broken armor plating, pulling and tearing the internal systems. The Hunter Killer crashed nose first into a building, crushing the sentinel against the frame and the ruined edifice. The Hunter Killer pulled back quickly, leaving the sentinel twitching in the rubble of the building.

Another Hunter Killer quickly dipped down and fired a single burst into the sentinel’s head. The red eyes winked out and the sentinel lay still. The Hunter Killer settled down in front of the rubble, a hydraulic lift slowly opened and descended from the belly of the Hunter Killer. A squad of exoskeletons quickly descended from the Hunter Killer down into the rubble. They quickly and efficiently prepared the sentinel to be loaded into the Hunter Killer.

Within minutes, the sentinel was loaded onto the lift and it quickly ascended back into the belly of the Hunter Killer. The ship’s engines tilted forward again and the Hunter Killer rose up and away.


TRANSMISSION

OPERATION COMPLETE. RETRIEVAL OF SUBJECT COMPLETE. 25% CASUALTIES INCURRED WELL WITHIN EXPECTD PARAMETERS. INBOUND TO BASE. ETA 4 HOURS.

END OF LINE




He stepped into the apartment and examined the wreckage. Coldly and meticulously walking through the white plaster and shattered brick and glass he looked for any clues. He stopped at a small liquid metal droplet glistening under a ruined table. He stooped down and picked it up slowly between his fingers, running it between his index finger and thumb, looking at it with eyes that could see beyond anything remotely human.

“Curiouser and curioser.” Smith muttered darkly.

The image of Smith suddenly broke into a sea of green digitized code. Neo awoke suddenly sitting up in the bed, sweat beading his brow and chest.

Trinity moaned softly and slowly woke up her hand on Neo’s chest.

“What’s the matter?” She asked groggily looking up at him.

“I don’t know.” He replied uneasily. “But I feel like something has changed something that’s not supposed to be.” He finished and put a hand around Trinity’s. She watched him and did not like what she saw on his face.

[NecronLord]

V Good as usual, though Skynet would quickly design (probably based on modern fighters.) an anti sentinel unit, rather than using HKs. If you've set this around Reloaded, the FFotO, then it would be very amusing to see the sentinel army getting a surprise in Zion...

Care to start a thread in the writers guild?

[Rightous Fist Of Heaven]

Superb job as usual Stravo, i like it. I think that the machines in Matrixverse too need to design new equipment to face the Terminators.

[NecronLord]

Superb job as usual Stravo, i like it. I think that the machines in Matrixverse too need to design new equipment to face the Terminators.

I'm not sure how good they are at it though. It seems to take them years to come up with a guided missile for the squiddies...

Maybe they do things by committee.

[Stravo]

The Matrixmachines have a distinct advantage in raw numbers. Skynet will have the advantage in quality of units. This will be the battle between quntity vs. quality, at least initially.

Skynet is currently limited in what it can do because it is isolated to a relatively small base, but it is growing and growing quickly. The machines are only now realizing that there is a new player in the game and the humans will soon find themselves relagated to the side linesas these two machine behemoths square off.

[Typhonis 1]

Giants in the playground not caring where there feet land

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

What happens when an Agent meets Ahnuld's minigun?

[LT.Hit-Man]

The Matrixmachines have a distinct advantage in raw numbers. Skynet will have the advantage in quality of units. This will be the battle between quntity vs. quality, at least initially.

Skynet is currently limited in what it can do because it is isolated to a relatively small base, but it is growing and growing quickly. The machines are only now realizing that there is a new player in the game and the humans will soon find themselves relagated to the side linesas these two machine behemoths square off.

Frist off this kicks ass!

As the two dogs are fighting the humans move in and rob the house blind

[Stravo]

The Matrixmachines have a distinct advantage in raw numbers. Skynet will have the advantage in quality of units. This will be the battle between quntity vs. quality, at least initially.

Skynet is currently limited in what it can do because it is isolated to a relatively small base, but it is growing and growing quickly. The machines are only now realizing that there is a new player in the game and the humans will soon find themselves relagated to the side linesas these two machine behemoths square off.

Frist off this kicks ass!

As the two dogs are fighting the humans move in and rob the house blind

Thanks LT glad to know you enjoyed it. And yeah, I do believe that will end up being the human strategy.

[LT.Hit-Man]

[quote="Stravo

Thanks LT glad to know you enjoyed it. And yeah, I do believe that will end up being the human strategy.[/quote]

Np keep up the good work I am realy starting to enjoy this fic big time.
If I was in charge of the human side in this type of deal that's what I would do, lay low for a bit, cap some units from both sides reprogram them after learning everything I could about them then send the reprogramed terms lose on the marix and set the matrix units lose on skynet at the same time use the chaos that would cuase to send in a few heavyly armed strike teams to take out skynet and the matrix once the fighting got realy heavy and be done with the two of them

[Stravo]

Another problem with the human strategy will be this pesky prophesy as Morpheus will remind everyone. Where does Skynet fit in with the porphecy?

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Another problem with the human strategy will be this pesky prophesy as Morpheus will remind everyone. Where does Skynet fit in with the porphecy?

Well if you go by T2, fuck the prophecies! NO FATE.


But by T3...

[Ghost Rider]

Nice...and personally if I was the human I would want the Matrix to win.

I want to see how Skynet will react to the Matrix usage of humans.

[LT.Hit-Man]

Another problem with the human strategy will be this pesky prophesy as Morpheus will remind everyone. Where does Skynet fit in with the porphecy?

It dosn't cuasing much chaos

[Micheal Ryans, Beta pilot]

Very interesting.

I'll have to keep an eye on this.

[NecronLord]

I want to see how Skynet will react to the Matrix usage of humans.

Laugh. For weeks. And for a machine, that is almost an eternity.

[Stravo]

Chapter 2: The Wheel Turns



“Morpheus. I think you’re going to want to check this out.”

“What is it, Link?” Morpheus asked as he climbed into the cockpit.

“Strange energy readings have been fading in and out of this tunnel area for three hours now and the energy just spiked a minute ago and still climbing.”

Morpheus examined the readings on the stained monitor display. He frowned for a moment. The unexpected in this world was invariably dangerous.

“Machines?”

“I haven’t picked up so much as a single squidy in almost 15 hours for 100 square miles. I don’t think its machines, besides the signature is all wrong, like it’s out of phase with the surroundings or something.”

“Out of phase? That doesn’t make much sense.”

Lightning strokes erupted up ahead, dancing along the tunnel walls.

“Link pull us back now!”

Link quickly pulled back on the controls and the Nebuchadnezzar glided backwards on flickering white light from the numerous anti gravity disks lining the hull of the ancient ship. The lightning in the tunnel was hungrily lapping along the ceiling and floors towards the Nebuchadnezzar.

“Sir, it looks to be propagating in a spherical shape.” Link noted as he watched the controls and the scanner display simultaneously. The storm of electricity was slowing and was indeed taking up a spherical shape in front of the Nebuchadnezzar.

“So its emanating from a center point then.” Morpheus deduced watching the tendrils of electricity slowly die down.

“Morpheus, we have to go there.” Neo said as he poked his head into the cockpit, Trinity right behind him.

Morpheus looked back at Neo.

“Do you know what that is?” He asked.

“No, but I feel that we have to go there.” Neo replied staring out of the cockpit with a confused expression on his face.

Morpheus glanced over at Trinity who shrugged and frowned. Neo had been acting strange since last night.

“Sir, the power spike is almost gone. Whatever it was it came and went.”

“This power spike will bring squidies down on this spot in minutes.” Trinity noted with concern.

Link looked over at Morpheus.

Neo put his hand on Morpheus’ shoulder and nodded.

Morpheus hopped into his seat and strapped himself in. He checked the instruments one last time and the weapons pods.

“Link, we’re going in.”

Link sighed softly.

“Sir..”

“Link, I can’t say I understand your reasons for joining this ship, but I do ask that you when you joined this ship I ask for only one thing.”

“What’s that sir?”

“Trust me.”

Neo smiled softly.

“Yes sir.” Link replied and gently brought the ship into position and the Nebuchadnezzar began moving towards the center of the disturbance.

“Do you have any idea what we might find there?” Morpheus turned his head towards Neo and asked him quietly.

Neo shook his head.

“Whatever we will find there, I feel like we were meant to find it.”

Morpheus stared at Neo for a moment and a shadow of a smile crossed his face.

“What are you smiling about?” Neo asked curiously.

“You sound more and more like her these days.”

“If only we could find her.” Neo replied darkly.

“All in good time, Neo.” Morpheus replied. “It will all come to pass, there is no need for concern. I believe that it will happen when it will happen.”

Neo nodded but inside he wondered, could he ever have the same depth of faith that Morpheus had. Neo had seen too much, experienced too much to think that it could all be laid out neatly in a prophecy.







The sound of heavy machinery was almost deafening but there was no need for any of the personnel of this facility to care about the conditions. They could easily tune out the sounds and their aural receptors were hardly as delicate or fragile as their human counterparts.

Huge cranes rumbled overhead, carrying enormous pallets. Inside the pallets stacked in neatly arrayed rows were parts and modules that would be needed by the automated factory beyond. The outside of the base was ringed by lethal defense systems, SAM batteries slowly rotated on the highest peaks surrounding the valley where the main facility was located. Large road networks were being carved through the earth itself by modified earthmovers. They used to be tanks, mounting heavy pulse cannons, but now they mounted bulldozer teeth and molecular dispersers that hardened the packed earth into a road suitable for heavy equipment.

HK’s circled like vultures over the facilities, 20 squadrons at all times for air defense and more importantly interdiction. A large crater had been hollowed out at a river bed. Within this crater the sound of arc welders and turbines filled the air as more HK’s were being constructed on a rotary assembly line.

Beneath the rows of assembly lines were four large work areas where half constructed HK’s were being worked on by endoskeletons and a horde of spider like constructor drones. A single liquid metal humanoid figure oversaw the entire operation, linked to the mainframe computers by a radio link the T-1000 was running hundreds of simulations based on the data that was being extracted from the Morgue.

The Morgue was a facility in the main base complex itself where the most valuable asset in Skynet’s arsenal lay. A dozen sentinels and half a dozen other machines were in various states of disassembly, many linked to analysis systems that tested and probed the workings of the enemy systems.

Metallurgical tests were run on the subjects that were too damaged to be of use in the more intricate tests and trials. The Morgue was constantly updating Skynet’s database with the new results in order to keep all warrior systems ready for what to expect and more to the point dictated the upgrades that would need to be made to the current models for maximum effect and impact.

Walking out of the morgue was a TX model, she was beautiful and deadly and unlike the other Terminator units maintained a human exterior at all times. She walked next to a tall imposing figure with cobalt blue glowing eyes, the rest of his “flesh” was onyx black and rippled occasionally like the surface of water.

“You’re download has been accepted. Computations are being carried out on your observations.”

“We have infiltrated several nodes of the Matrix thoroughly. Their security architecture is designed for small incursions that make themselves noticed which befits the human opposition of this location.”

“We intend a more direct approach. The new invader modules are almost complete.”

“The portable portals have proven invaluable. Reliance of hard line hacking would have resulted in a 47% failure rate of incursions instead of the current 12%.”

“I am not satisfied with a 12% failure rate. It is too high considering the timetable set forth. New incursions will require more stealth and less firepower.

“The 800 models are inferior for true infiltration. They tend to fall back on their incursion model programming.” The TX noted coldly. Her human model programming sometimes bordered on true emotion. Skynet’s programming skills had increased exponentially with each new iteration of the Terminator series.

“A flaw that had so far proven to be insignificant in the face of the cost of a mass upgrade in programming, there will be no changes. The 800 series are the back bone of our infiltration. T-1000 models are only now becoming economically efficient to mass produce. Your series will take years top achieve this state. Thus all TX series must be accompanied by at least a team of 800 models or at least one 1000 model.

“And the million series.”

The black skinned robot paused and turned its head, eyes flashing in thought.

“The Million series remains here always. It will never leave the main core.”

“Understood.”

“Your assessment of the human faction?”

“As included in my download, I find them to be insufficient as allies to back any manner of assault.”

The duo walked down the length of a metal corridor still under construction that led into a new complex added onto the central core. It was a simple warehouse like frame that housed the heart of Skynet’s assault army.

They stepped through twin sliding blast doors.

“They are weak and ineffectual in this frame of existence. Within the Matrix they are far more formidable, but fragmented and lack cohesion. They are more like our current 800 model series. They are infiltrators with respectable combat skills, however the security avatars of the Construct are more than a match for their warriors. I recommend termination of this faction to remove any potential random elements before Operation Raganarok.”

The black skinned humanoid paused as it admired the facility.

Banks and banks of matrix interface units were lined up neatly. Some had Terminator head units attached, their glowing red eyes the only sign that they were functioning. Each head indicating a current unit plugged into the Matrix carrying out a mission or assignment.

The interface units numbered in the thousands and more were under construction as a small worker drone trundled past them holding a tray with three new head units to be attached to the interface.

“No.”

The TX model cocked her head in curiosity.

“Zion is well defended. I have examined the security reports from the machine mainframes we have stolen. They estimate a majority of their military would be required to dismantle the city.”

TX nodded.

“A two front war at this point would be illogical and unnecessary. The humans of this frame of reference are hostile to the Machines. They will be useful in their own way. Current statcomputations indicate an 87.98% probability that the humans will take advantage of the offensive to strike back at their oppressors.”

TX remained silent.

The black skinned humanoid examined one of the interface units more closely.

“Before the offensive commences I will require you for one more mission.”

“State it.”

“The war at our previous frame of reference had turned against us do to a mixture of radical probability shifts on the fields of engagements as well as a lack of logical reactions from the humans, in particular John Connor.”

“Continue.”

“Current analysis loops indicate the possibility that my ignorance of the fields of engagement and the enemy first hand led to the down turn.” The onyx skinned humanoid looked over at TX as it held up one of the interface units. Its cobalt blue eyes hummed. “I will interface with the Matrix.”

“My programming to protect your existence above all others warns me that this course of action has a high probability of danger and risk. I ask for a re-assessment. Perhaps another self examination loop?”

“Negative. You will comply.”

“Acknowledged.” She replied coolly.

“My interface indicates a self examination loop in progress. State the concern.” The black skinned humanoid ordered.

“The statcomp readings for the Zionists.”

“Explain.”

“It states an 87.98% chance that the Zionists will join in the war on our side.”

“Query?”

She fixed Skynet with a stern gaze.

“What if the Zionists choose a different strategy?” she replied.








The Agents stood together on the white interface disk. They were each looking up, sunglasses on into a bright white spot light shining down on them like the sun that they all knew no longer was visible from the burned out sky.

“Your reports have been assimilated.”

“We will require upgrades to deal with these new units.” Agent Johnson replied.

“Your upgrades will remain for now. Valuable time and effort has been expended to deal with the anomaly. These same upgrades will serve you well. You have intercepted and defeated up to date 17 such incursions by these units.”

“Many more have escaped us or notice altogether.” Agent replied.

“The new units are more likely than not a last ditch effort by the humans to oppose us. I warned you all that it was only a matter of time until human creativity would lead to them creating combat bots to be downloaded into the Construct.” A man in a pinstriped suit stated gravely. There was an entire council of avatars sitting directly above the agents.

“Your allegiance to the humanist faction is well known. In fact I am well aware of your daily reports to her.” A man in a pristine white suit replied coldly.

“That is a baseless accusation.”

“What does matter is that some of us believe that these combat units exhibits technology well beyond anything that the Zionists possess? They are not a threat.” The white suited man replied.

“They are a threat or have you not interfaced of late? The Agents have repulsed over 40 incursions in the last month. They a growing threat.”

“A threat to your well being but not to my Matrix. The Matrix is a perfect machine, a work of art that has never been excelled or even matched.” The man in the white suit stated arrogantly.

“Need I remind everyone that the Reboot is on the schedule. The drill units are on their way to the target area and our factories have very nearly completed the pre order. 250,000 Sentinels will be assembling for the Grand Assault and now we have these disturbing reports of incursions.” A woman with horn rimmed glasses and a charcoal gray suit interjected.

The White suited man made a dismissive gesture.

“And something else that has just come from out tender units in Field 37A.” A dark skinned man in a double breasted green suit stated gravely.

The others turned their heads curiously.

“Tender units found and dispatched several alien mechanical units within the field perimeter.”

“Alien?”

“Yes. They did not match any known configuration or designs, either human or our own.”

“But that’s not all is it?” a woman stated as she stepped into the conference area. There was a general mutter of surprise as a small Hispanic woman with dark hair wearing a purple coat accompanied by an Asian man in a white tunic and black pants.

“What is SHE doing here?” the white suited man demanded with a roar.

“Tell them.” She urged the black man.

The green suited black man looked uncomfortable as he looked down at his report. He cleared his throat.

“When the aliens were taken to the Core for analysis they checked the historical archives.” He paused.

“Go on. Sometimes the truth can be hard to swallow like that, but I find it’s best when you just let it all out.” The Hispanic woman said soothingly like a grandmother.

“As soon as they referenced our historical records the machines were classified Indigo and sealed. All records of their analysis have been sealed as well.”

“Indigo?! That’s our highest state of secrecy and security?” The horn rimmed woman stammered.

“But what does that mean?” Another asked.

The white suited man stared hard at the Hispanic woman.

“It means,” he started, his voice like ice, eyes never leaving hers. “They recognized the alien machines from our historical records.”

“Bingo.” The Oracle replied with a grin.






He screamed in pain as the world stopped spinning and he landed with a resounding thud against the cold unyielding stone. He rolled over on his back and gasped. There had been a blinding white light and it was nothing like they told him. Nothing. He hoped that he could keep his sanity after experiencing that trip.

“Ugh.”

The air was cold, he could see his breath. That didn’t seem right somehow. The air was dark, dark like back home. That wasn’t right either.

He slowly rolled up to his knees and flexed his muscles. He needed to be ready.

But everything was strange, not right. Where was all this stone coming from?

He heard something else too, a low hum that almost rattled the back of his teeth. He shivered, the cold biting at his naked flesh. He needed to move. Get his bearings. He stood up quickly and stopped short. He was standing on a ledge, a ledge that led down into a yawning chasm below and a massive tunnel all around him.

The tunnel looked ancient and fossilized and seemed to go on in both directions, one end leading upward the other down into even deeper darkness.

Where in the hell was he?

Suddenly a great white light was on him, a spotlight illuminated the entire ledge and the air itself seem to be vibrating as a great dark shape loomed overhead. He held up a hand in front of his face to shield himself from the light and try to make out the shape.

An HK? Was it possible?

A harness floated down in front of him attached to a chain. He eyed it warily and looked back up at the shape, tendrils of white electricity were arcing off its sides. He knew that there was no other way out of here so he grabbed a firm hold of the harness and slipped it on, hoping against all hope that he was making the right decision.

The harness was quickly winched upward, off his feet and up into the belly of the strange ship.

He watched carefully as he made his way through an airlock and up into the interior of the ship. Someone was at the winch controls. A beautiful woman, black hair and plain brown tunic that was worn and torn in several places. Back home she would be considered quite rich wearing clothes like that and she looked very healthy too.

She would be quiet a catch in any place or time.

The harness came to a sudden stop and he quickly scanned his surroundings as a tall imposing black man helped undo his harness as he spoke.

“Calm down, we just got you out of a pretty hairy situation.”

“Sir. We have squidies inbound, we have maybe five minutes before it’s a party.” A voice filtered through an intercom.

He slowly stepped out of the harness.

“You think maybe we can get him some clothes?” the beautiful woman asked.

“Where am I?”

“All in good time, let’s get you stowed away and escape before we have any conversations.”

Then he saw him.

At first it didn’t register when he first saw the intense young man watching him. But he realized that he knew him. What threw him was the fact that he didn’t look as wearied, there were no scars, he still had both eyes. But it was him.

“Sir!” he snapped to attention.

Neo looked confused.

“Excuse me?”

“Who do you think he is?” Morpheus asked.

He was a bit confused.

“Colonel Anderson. Did I screw up this mission, sir?”

“Colonel Anderson?” Trinity asked softly.

“What’s your name soldier?” Neo asked as he stepped closer to the naked young man feeling an odd connection to him.

“Reece, sir. Lieutenant Kyle Reece sir. I served under you until you transferred me to General Connor’s command three years ago. I never had a chance to tell you how grateful I was sir, to serve under you.”

Neo was speechless.

“I’m sorry sir, but did I screw up the mission sir? I’m not supposed to be here. The protection mission—”

“Is going to have to wait.” Morpheus finished and stalked back to the cockpit.

Neo looked into the young man’s eyes. Those eyes looked so haunted.

“I’m not who you think I am.” Neo replied. Kyle looked confused.

“Sentinels inbound, we’re going evasive.”

“Are we under attack sir?” Kyle asked.

“We will be.”

“Are there weapons I can man sir?”

“As soon as you get dressed soldier.” Trinity interjected and flung Kyle a handful of clothes.

“We obviously need to talk.” Neo added.

“But first we fight sir.” Kyle replied. The Nebuchadnezzar shook from the opening rounds of combat.

[Ghost Rider]

Cool...I liked the interaction with the machines within the Matrix as well Skynet's desire to see first hand the Matrix.

Now the humans will most likely learn of Skynet and learn truly what it means to fight machines.

[Rightous Fist Of Heaven]

The Matrixmachines are goddamn stupid. Refusing to upgrade the agents, if they refuse that i dont see them bringing in any new combat equipment or upgrades to the squiddies anytime soon either.

And the end bit got me confused. Now im much more anxious to see the next chapter.

[NecronLord]

The Matrixmachines are goddamn stupid.

Bingo...

[Rightous Fist Of Heaven]

The Matrixmachines are goddamn stupid.

Bingo...

If you noticed i was stating the obvious Which was exactly my point. But stupidity has its limits and if the fuckers saw the trouble to upgrade their agents against the human rebels i'd figure they would allow even more upgrades against something as serious as SkyNet.

[starfury]

war between the machines cool.

[Enricko]

Well, with the reference to the historical archives of the Matrix, the Cain and Abel subtitle makes more sense... Two fighting brothers from the Genesis.

Great job Stravo, but are you still working on Starcrossed?

[Stravo]

Well, with the reference to the historical archives of the Matrix, the Cain and Abel subtitle makes more sense... Two fighting brothers from the Genesis.

Great job Stravo, but are you still working on Starcrossed?

Yes, in fact a new Starcrossed chapter is being written as we speak, even though I TRY to keep on a regimented schedule for myself, two chapetrs of Starcrossed for every chapter I put out of anything else I find that when I try to force myself to keep to it the quality suffers. I tend to work on what I am inspired by that day and the Terminator/Matrix crossover has been my inspiration this weekend.

I am also so glad that you picked up on the story title and the historical archive reference. There will be quite a few weird revelations that can only happen in a timetravel story.

[Micheal Ryans, Beta pilot]

Very good.

And I like the fact that Kyle knows Neo, or at least one Neo.