Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes
 The novel opens on July 25, 2004 - Judgment Day. USMC Sergeant Justo Orozco and his men of the USMC Eleventh Marine Expeditionary Unit are running a drug-interdiction exercise with the Mexican Army in Baja California. It is here they witness the rise of Skynet - they suddenly see the opening shots of the War Against The Machines when Skynet's nuclear missiles hit the nearby cities of San Diego, Twentynine Palms and Hermosillo. Upon seeing the end of their old lives, the men, shell-shocked and frozen with fear, ask Orozco for new orders. Orozco takes the lead and assures them "We'll be all right. We'll survive, because we're Marines, and that's what Marines do. " The story jumps forward to post-Judgment Day in Los Angeles, where John Connor, serving as commander and leader of an independent organized Resistance cell group stationed in the area. Though Connor is destined to lead humanity to ultimate victory, at this time he is still just a common soldier. The cell is effective in operations against Skynet's local presence, but is continuously and dangerously short on supplies and Resistance command is hesitant to adopt Connor's cell on a permanent basis. Despite this, all of the men and women under Connor's command have much respect for him, especially Barnes, John's right-hand-man, and Blair Williams, one of the cell's few pilots. While the cell is away on an operation that destroys most of Skynet's local radar towers, Skynet forces launch an attack on the cell's makeshift base. Upon returning, John's team finds the base's lookout dead, having been taken out by a long-range sniper, and Barnes spots eight T-600's moving in on the base. Barnes delays Skynet's assault by destroying a support beam of a nearby building, which collapses on the approaching Terminators. Not long after, the Resistance soldiers, ready for battle, evacuate the base, which is now under attack by multiple T-600's, T-1 tanks, and HK-Aerial's. Blair and Yoshi, the cell's two pilots, are ordered by John to get to their planes and get out as the rest of the personnel escape through an underground tunnel. As the cell escapes, Blair and Yoshi engage and destroy several of the HK's, but Yoshi runs out of ammo and has to rendezvous with the others at the fall-back base. Blair destroys the remaining HK's and heads towards the base as well - but as she does so she observes a concealed Skynet Neighborhood-Sweep Area. Skynet has cordoned off this area and is methodically exterminating all humans within it's border. Upon rendezvousing at their fall-back base, John contacts an unnamed General at Command who, while sympathetic and thankful they escaped with minimal casualties, once again refuses to aid John's cell. Command then wishes them luck and disconnects to take another call. In response to Command's abandonment of their group, John re-invigorates his troops by declaring they will carry out a mission so spectacular and ground-breaking, everyone (i. e. Command, other local Resistance groups and Skynet itself) will take notice. After receiving Blair's report on what she saw while in the air, the other senior members of the cell opt to destroy the Staging Area to get Command's attention. John's goes a step further, however, by convincing the group to capture the Staging Area intact. Meanwhile, Kate Connor asks John to be allowed on field missions, insisting she could be of more use to them. John denies her request and claims it is because she is more useful in a support role, although secretly it is because he does not want to risk her life. John's cell quickly organizes their assault - when Skynet sends its Terminators out for the culling operation, the group's force of soldiers will be divided into two groups; one will make its stand in the neighborhood to keep the Terminators pinned down and destroy them before they can attack the local civilian survivor settlements, and the other will attack the Staging Area itself while it is relatively undefended. Both groups will have continuous air support from Blair and Yoshi. A side-objective of the mission is to recruit new members for the Resistance from the local settlements. Preparations for the assault begins with Kate and Barnes leading a force into the local settlements to gain recruits. The most significant settlement is "Moldering Lost Ashes", where several hundred survivors are sheltering, living and working. Their head of security is Orozco, the only remaining survivor from the Eleventh Marine Expeditionary Unit. Life at Ashes is difficult for Orozco for many reasons; he is the person most aware of the dangers surrounding them, and he is treated with a lack of respect from most of the population. The leader of the group, Chief Grimaldi, is a pompous and unreasonable man who, having previously been a CEO of a corporation that made him rich and powerful before Judgment Day, is obsessed with his belief that Ashes is destined to be a thriving community once again. Grimaldi is an ineffective leader who has left Ashes seriously endangered from the imminent Skynet assault. He is in denial about the deadliness of Skynet and its forces, and believes that keeping a low profile and staying out of Skynet's way is the only means of survival. Orozco's only true friends are 16-year old Kyle Reese and his mute companion, Star. Kyle greatly respects Orozco and learns from Orozco's combat experience. Orozco, in turn, looks after Kyle and Star and admits that they are his two best friends in what's left of the world. The Resistance group is greeted warmly by Orozco, who immediately forms a silent bond with Barnes, but receive a hostile welcome from Grimaldi. Grimaldi resents their attempts to recruit what he considers "his" people. When the handful of recruits leave with the Resistance group, Orozco opts to stay and defend those he's sworn to protect. Skynet steps up its plan of attack, and so forces the Resistance to mobilize sooner than expected. Skynet's forces are dispatched to attack the neighborhood. When the Terminators arrive at the Ashes, Grimaldi, having previously denied the idea of an attack, completely falls apart when he realizes Orozco and the Resistance itself was right all along. Grimaldi passes leadership of the Ashes to Orozco, who proceeds to mobilize the Ashes' defenders for battle. The initial assault is met and beaten back by a coordinated effort from the Ashes defenders and the cell's first group of soldiers, personally led by John himself. Skynet then sends out it's reserve of Terminators to shrink the cordon and attack Ashes. Several Resistance soldiers and many Ashes defenders are killed in the battle, and Skynet soon overruns the entire settlement. Meanwhile, Kyle and Star, having been hunted by the Terminators at the cordon, successfully destroy the Terminator hunting them and proceed to escape the area. Meanwhile, Kate secretly joins Barnes' group against her husband's wishes. They raid the staging area and meet minimal Skynet forces inside. However, Blair finds another force of Terminators moving to reinforce the compromised Staging Area. Just when it seems the operation will fail, more Resistance fighters arrive to turn the tide. Squadron Five, the helicopter squadron under the personal command of General Olsen, arrives to support and reinforce John's cell. Soon Skynet's presence in the area is wiped out. After the battle, Olsen reports that Command has agreed to adopt John's group. John will receive a full slot in the Resistance structure, complete with a brand new base safely away from the local wasteland of Los Angeles. Olsen reveals John's victory is bigger than even he imagined - the Staging Area was also a Skynet Maintenance Center (thus explaining why Skynet was so determined to defend the facility). A massive amount of experimental and prototype Skynet weapons and other technologies are confiscated from the center to be reverse-engineered and used against Skynet. Meanwhile, a badly injured Orozco is retrieved from the ruins of the Ashes and treated by Kate. Orozco surprises her by refusing to join the Resistance. Orozco has grown tired of authority and the need to protect others, and feels that the generals and admirals leading the Resistance are basically the same as those who caused Judgment Day. He vows never to serve them again, and plans to enter self-imposed exile. However, Orozco soon discovers 8 child refugees from Ashes. Regaining his sense of duty, Orozco takes charge of the children and leads them off to survive in the ruins, because "He was a Marine, and that's what Marines do". The story ends as John's cell settles into its new base. Kate reveals to John she is pregnant, leaving him speechless.