14062/Costco Craters

Costco Craters
Date of Scene:	07 January 2022
Location:	Tealboro, Hell's Gate
Synopsis:	The Connors go shopping and a Lantern War breaks out
Cast of Characters:	John Connor, Sarah Connor, Cameron, Green Lantern (Stewart)

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John Connor has posed:
The Connors, Sarah, not Rosanne, were on a field trip to the Stark-Fujikawa plant, having toured its facilities. Of course, it was all part of an investigation, one that like so many others, had proven fruitless. Oh, SF was probably developing any number of things that could lead to the end of the human race as we know it, but that wasn't exactly out of the ordinary. Tony Stark likely creates and deals with threats to humanity on a bi-weekly basis. Mostly because he has other interests, and is ever multitasking.

So, they had made a trip to Costco, picking up some groceries and supplies after Christmas, and were currently pushing the carts towards their truck. As it was winter in Connecticut, there was snow on the ground, although it had rained recently, so that snow had washed away, save for what had been built up into massive snow banks in the parking lot.

John, feeling a bit parched, cracked open a clear plastic rectangular box, pulling out a croissant, which he began to munch, before the young man dutifully offered one to either Cameron or Sarah, whoever took it first. He'd offer one to each, but only had one free hand right now.

What he didn't account for was that there was a man, about forty-seven years of age, currently pushing thirteen carts, all lined up. It wore a white dress shirt, a tie, and the Costco coat, which was partially zipped up. It did not wear gloves, but was breathing out, which was visible in the cold winter air.

Seeing John Connor, and identifying him, the man abandoned his current mission, which had nothing to do with John, nor his 'relatives'. He began walking away from the carts, leaving them in the middle of the parking lot, and unzipped it's coat, ready to draw a weapon.

Sarah Connor has posed:
"No thanks." Sarah really didn't need the extra fat in the croissants. Besides the fact that their whole trip was pointless, and not made up for by buying at Costco. It required her picture on ad ID, and we all knew how anal with ID she was!

She started packing the groceries away.. but something was off.

Looking around, telling John to hurry up, and turn on the truck, while she finished, she caught the man. At first he looked.. ok? Although he did warrant a second glance..

Then something really didn't make sense..

"Ah fuck! get down, John!" while she left the groceries, and took out her rifle.

Cameron has posed:
"Thank you," Cameron said as she took the offered croissant since Sarah didn't want it. She took a bite and began to chew, using her free hand to continue putting groceries into the truck. Until she caught the glimpse of the cart pusher.

It was an error. The gloves should be in on in this sort of cold for any human beings. Cameron had on a heavy coat, jeans, boots, and gloves. Particularly when the man would be out touching the cold handles of carts that had been out in the weather for any amount of time. Someone might take them off if needed for some fine-motor functions but not pushing a row of buggies.

Sarah picked it up as Cameron had, giving voice to the situation. "John, go." It was given as an instruction as Cameron placed herself directly in front of John. If the approaching man got his weapon drawn, he would have to take her out before he could get to his target. And it wasn't that easy to take her down.

Green Lantern (Stewart) has posed:
*BOOM*

It's sudden, without warning. Something came from the sky directly above and landed with enough impact to send cars tumbling and a crater in the parking lot outskirts, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

Almost right after it, another, smaller, boom can be heard, as another impact lands right on top of the other one.

John Connor has posed:
John had not spotted the man, as he had his back towards him for most of their interaction. The 'man', if that's what he was, had managed to identify John via two separate profile shots, which in its system, had been matched up to create a complete face. It proved enough to identify him and trigger the protocol.

Their cart, loaded with groceries, was behind the truck. In front, another parked truck. It could be forced out, but that would require a fair bit of effort. Instead, John did as both his mother and protector insisted, ducking down behind the truck, and moving forward, not running, as that would quickly put a target on his back.

He would be have been in the open. So instead, he moved along the truck, past the other truck, and tried to peek out from the far side, just to gauge the situation, before sneaking further up, hiding behind vehicles at all points.

The customers in the parking lot saw Sarah reach for her rifle, as the man drew a handgun. Neither even were the kind of thing that customers would react well too. There were people screaming, running, and even a handful of people drew their own weapons. God bless America.

If the situation were not chaotic enough, the two impacts, which kicked up a cloud of dirty snow, slush, and actual frozen dirt below the concrete, turned a bad situation into a nightmarish one. The second crater landed close enough to the man that his clothes were shredded and caught fire, although he simply let it burn, only removing articles that might hinder his movement.

He continued to walk towards John's previous location, not yet opening fire, not until he had a clear shot. If he recognized any guns drawn on him, Sarah's rifle, or the other customers' guns, he would fire immediately.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah didn't care about the meteorites, and what have you. If John was in trouble, regardless, they'll be dealt with. If not, she'll worry about that then. And right now, the bigger question is, how will they escape from this parking lot with the minimal amounts of damage?

This was one Costo they can erase from their places to shop at.

Quickly, trying to put John behind her, Sarah opened fire on the man's head.

Cameron has posed:
That wasn't good. Cameron was already dealing with a threat in the form of a terminator machine which would now be intent on killing John Connor. She didn't need meteorites falling from the sky.

Only it wasn't meteorites. From what she saw in the few seconds the two objects were visible before disappearing into the crater the impact created, this was not a place they wanted to be. At all. Not if they were going to keep John Connor alive.

"I will deal with the machine," she said, not turning her head as she addressed Sarah. "Take John. Find a car to get him out of here. Those were not meteors but beings of some sort. I believe one was a Green Lantern." Which she had no idea what one or any of that but the Justice League had been on tv before so Green Lanterns were sort of known without having details.

And with that, she started forward to intercept the terminator head on, swinging to try to disarm him as soon as she was within range.

Green Lantern (Stewart) has posed:
The dust cloud isn't settling, but the /sounds/ coming from that crater make it very clear there's a battle going on.

So do the seismic shocks going through the ground.

Whatever is going on inside that dust cloud, there's some serious power being thrown around.

John Connor has posed:
It was suspicious timing, for John to be identified by a Terminator, mere moments before two objects fell from the sky, creating impact craters. But sometimes it was best not to look too closely at a gift crater, just be thankful that it distracted the killer cyborg for a moment.

John certainly did, using the confusion to get further afield in the parking lot, going down the middle between two rows of vehicles, trying to get to the edge of the parking lot, beyond it, or possibly hotwire a vehicle and steal it. He didn't like stealing vehicles, but it was better than dying.

The shot from Sarah hit the Terminator in the head, creating a gash in its skin. There was less blood than usual due to the low temperatures. And as it began to open fire, it's gun was grabbed by Cameron. Focusing on her, it used its own strength to try and get her arm off its gun, as despite her distraction, if it could free its firearm, it could kill.

The Terminator then turned its head, not fully. It was keeping an eye on Cameron, but it was also trying to ascertain what was going on in the cloud, and if it would be a threat to its mission.

Sarah Connor has posed:
One.. Two..

That's as many shots as Sarah got off, before Cameron told her to get John away. Going back to the truck to carry two rifles as well as the one she had shot, and give John his cover, she looked around, quickly, for the nearest car to steal. The older, the better she found when boosting cars; then again, with John's help any car was vulnerable.

"John! This way!" Back away from Cameron, and most certainly away from the crater!

Cameron has posed:
Cameron now had to worry about other things. She trusted Sarah to get John out. That was what the woman had been doing her entire life: keeping her son safe. Well, when she was able to be around to do so.

Cameron had a purpose as well. Protect John Connor. The threat was this machine. An additional threat was the two beings battling in that crater. Green Lantern for one. The other looked like an alien but wearing yellow. Yet the things she was catching glimpses of--it seemed they had similar power sets. Were there other colors of Lanterns? She would need to research more after this.

Since the terminator didn't want to give up the gun, Cameron went for a more direct approach. Servos kicked in and she tightened her hand down on the gun. Her intention was to crush it. But even as she was doing that, the rest of her was available and she went for a punch to the head of the terminator then tried to hook his leg to take him down to the ground.

Her model was smaller but also more agile than the larger, older version. She was also as tough but she wasn't really designed to go toe-to-toe with them for extended combat. She needed to take it out quickly.

Especially before that Yellow Lantern--for lack of a better term--got out of that hole. It kept trying but the Green was keeping it in place, presumably not wanting it to get loose and endanger more people. At least if the Green was a good person like the Justice League.

Things had been simpler in the future, her version, where there had been no super powered beings.

Green Lantern (Stewart) has posed:
Unfortunately, there's only so many options when your opponent is also wearing a Power Ring.

A few moments later and the underside of the parking suddenly starts to collapsed on in itself, before the center of the parking lot suddenly bursts out as the Yellow Lantern gets free by burrowing through the ground.

A moment later, and the Green Lantern flies out of the crater at incredible speed himself, launching right towards the Yellow Lantern and knocking the alien right down into a group of cars, sending yet more metallic debris flying to add to the concrete flying about.

Titanic sounding punches ring in the air as the two rival Lanterns beat each other into the car scrap, hard.

It's visibly a fight that's costing both Lanterns dearly... but their auras continue to shine brightly as Will and Fear battle.

John Connor has posed:
In this kind of confusion, it was hard to tell who was where. John had gotten a fair bit away from his mother Sarah, and there was a lot of noise of cars driving away, fleeing, people just running, and some taking refuge in the store. One of the customers who had drawn his own weapon shot at the terminator, since he was attacking a teenage girl, or was that being attacked by a teenage girl. It was hard to tell. Either way, big guy, young girl, the customer fired at the big guy. It was usually a safe assumption. His shot didn't do anything better than what Sarah's rifle had.

The model Terminator that Cameron fought with was an older one, and despite its greater higher and bulk, it was in fact weaker. It was also slower. But that was to be expected as she was among the most advanced physical terminators. It wasn't until it got into the liquid metal ones that she had a serious problem, although inferior Terminators could overcome superior ones through tactics, or environmental advantages.

John was well on his way to getting away from this, but then the danger came to him, with the Lanterns burrowing and battling, flipping cars. He was once again visible, which is when Cameron was able to crush the hostile Terminator's gun, only for it to be taken to the ground, and lose sight of him once more. Distractions worked both ways.

Sarah Connor has posed:
For just one second Sarah lost sight of John.

And for just that second, Sarah was lost. "John!?" With two battles being fought here the bedlam was all over the place. With that, she looked around, hoping beyond hoping that he wasn't really gone, but misplaced.

Hoping that John deked into a car and was hot wiring it, well at the same time fearing she had lost him - really *lost* him for good.

Cameron has posed:
That was what she needed. Now that the terminator was unarmed, and on the ground, she had a better shot. In a move that would make a wrestler proud, she went to the mats as they would say. Getting behind him, wrapping his arms up above his head and locking her legs around his waist. She was able to touch his head that way and used her strength to rip through the thing coating of skin and hair that covered the area where their chips were accessible. No screwdriver or tools so this was the dirty way as she drove her metallic fingers in and ripped the entire chip housing out of the terminator's head. It fell still.

Climbing up, she glanced over at the battling Lanterns. But they were not her programming. That involved John Connor. And not allowing SkyNet to be created. Thus, this terminator could not be left here. She hefted the body over her shoulder. An oddity for sure, but in all the chaos it hopefully wouldn't be noticed. Thanks to the superhero and villain battling, this was just a nothing.

Then she threw the body into the back of their truck. The buggy containing the rest of their stuff was abandoned. Shoved out of the way. Then she moved to get in the truck, hoping to get herself and it out of the area. If she saw Sarah and John in the process, if they were not already clear, she would try to pick them up.

Green Lantern (Stewart) has posed:
Suddenly, the Yellow Lantern made a massive yellow fist construct and 'threw' it at John.

The shockwave flipped over the remains of the cars around it, and sent John himself end over end as he bulleted right across the parking lot though cars and lamp posts alike, sending metal everywhere, and cooking off explosions as gas tanks sparked from the kinetic force.

It's easy to see why Lanterns have a reputation for power: This is just a skirmish between two of them, and it's turning the parking lot into a collosal warzone.

John Connor has posed:
The chassis of the Terminator lay on the pavement, flesh torn, fractured cranial unit, and missing its chip. It would not activate again without its chip, or a replacement, and a serious amount of repairs to the housing. The body was hefted by the petite brunette, which would have elicited stares was it not for the massive Lantern on Lantern battle going on. With Justice League action, a couple of terminators were small potatoes.

While Cameron was dealing with the chassis, John had by then managed to find a vehicle that he was in the process of hotwiring. He had gotten in, without sounding the alarm. And yeah, older vehicles were usually the better ones, but John knew his way around. This one was a navy blue mustang. At least he hadn't gone for the red cars, or the black ones. He knew that blue was a more difficult color to pick out. It attracted less attention.

And as luck would have it, just as the vehicle started to drive, the shockwave from the Lanterns flipped it over, and he was very thankful to have worn his seatbelt. Although he did hit his face, it was cosmetic, with only a small trace of blood on his cheek as it caught something in the flip. He stayed there, buckled up, for a moment, just catching his breath.

Sarah Connor has posed:
At the same time Sarah saw John had, indeed, hotwired a car, was the exact moment that the next shockwave went over them, and John's car was caught up with it! Sarah was thrown across the spaces of several cars, while John was hung upside down, teetering on the edge of it's roof.

Cameron has posed:
It took a moment to get the car out of the space. It wasn't a nice experience. But Cameron was programmed well. With a bit of maneuvering--and the use of a bumper to push a smaller car out of the way--she was able to get the truck in motion.

That's when she spotted Sarah. Who was looking at something, an expression on her face that was not good. Cameron followed the line-of-sight and spotted the vehicle with John. She pulled the truck up next to Sarah, ignoring the insanity around them. "Get in. I will get John."

She jumped out of the truck, leaving it running and the door open so Sarah could get in. Which, honestly, Sarah probably would ignore her because that was her son in that car. Then the machine disguised as a young woman, or teenage girl depending how one viewed her, was rushing over toward the vehicle where John was sitting.

Shrapnel was hitting her, tearing through her clothing and fake skin, causing the metal beneath to be exposed in some spots. Thankfully the bulky clothes mostly covered those. It was the face and neck that were the issue. "You are injured," she said as she yanked the car door open. Hopefully it didn't come off because she wasn't paying that close of attention to her strength level.

Green Lantern (Stewart) has posed:
The Yellow Lantern floats just above the parking lot.. and suddenly the Green Lantern flies right at the alien yet again. This time they go shooting at an angle into the sky, away from the parking lot.

The immediate danger is gone for now, it seems... unless that Yellow Lantern forces the duel back down to Earth.

John Connor has posed:
John got himself free of the seatbelt, which was easier said than done, given he was upside down and his own weight as pressing down on the buckle. He supported himself, upside down, by hooking his feet under the dash, and using one hand to push up against the roof. It was at that point that the door was ripped open, not torn off, but it was bent as it was opened. Cameron must not have been paying close attention to the force she was exerting.

"I'm fine," he said, but she probably wouldn't believe that. If experience was any indication, the minute he got into the car, he would have one or both, probably both, of Sarah and Cameron exploring his body for any damages that might require emergency services. Just because he said he was fine didn't mean he was in fact, fine. Sometimes they were worse than the TSA.

Hopefully Sarah would get the car towards them, so that they could check, and escape from the Costco parking lot. Either way, John managed to get out of the car now that he had freed himself from his buckle, and Cameron had so helpfully freed the door from the latch.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah scrambled up unto her arms and legs, then upright.

Truthfully, Cameron was fast. Faster than anyway that she could get there. It took almost all her psyche to /not/ go after John, but trusting Cameron to do what she could not. But she could bring around the truck as close as she could so that they could easily pop in, and gtfo.

Cameron has posed:
Cameron did not frisk John to check his status. Yet. There wasn't time right now. She did help him out of the vehicle, making sure to put herself between him and anything exploding or sending deadly metal shards their direction.

Then the truck pulled up, giving them the opportunity to enter and get out of Dodge. Which was a strange saying she needed to look up later. What did the car manufacturer have to do with anything?

A glance back to see the Lanterns collide in midair and begin to rise into the sky again, as quickly as they had appeared. Definitely things to research when she got back home.