T2 (novel series)

S. M. Stirling authored the T2 trilogy, a series of novels that pick up where *Terminator 2: Judgment Day* left off. Published starting in January 2001, these books were not the first official continuation of the franchise—that honor belongs to the novel *Terminator 2: Judgment Day* (1995) by Randall Frakes. The trilogy includes *T2: Infiltrator* (2001), *T2: Rising Storm* (2003), and *T2: The Future War* (2004).

Six years after the film’s events, Sarah and John Connor are living under false names in Paraguay, running a trucking company and smuggling operation. John, now sixteen, attends military school. A new neighbor, Dieter von Rossbach—a former Austrian counterterrorism operative who resembles the T-800 but is not its in-universe model—becomes involved after Sarah explains the future war. A new Terminator model, the i-950 Infiltrator Serena Burns—a human-Terminator hybrid created by Skynet in the future and sent back in time—has created a T-800 in the present to attack them. The Connors realize Judgment Day was not truly averted. With Dieter’s help, they try again to stop Skynet. FBI agent Jordan Dyson, brother of Miles Dyson, initially seeks to capture them for the destruction of Cyberdyne but, after witnessing Terminators firsthand, joins their cause. Sarah is badly wounded but destroys Serena; Dyson ensures her recovery. John and Dieter return to Paraguay, but Dyson learns of a backup Cyberdyne facility in Montana.

Months later, John and Dieter begin building the future Resistance. John finds recruits online, while Dieter gathers supplies. Sarah, recovering from her wounds, is placed in a halfway house by Dr. Silberman, who now believes her story after encountering the T-800 and T-1000 years earlier. He helps her flee to Paraguay. John, Dieter, and John’s new girlfriend Wendy Dorset—the Resistance’s first recruit—head to the Montana site. They conclude that Skynet’s creation seems inevitable. John and Wendy design an AI virus to prevent sentience, but Wendy is subdued by a clone of Serena, Clea Bennet. They attempt to upload the virus, but it fails, and Skynet becomes sentient due to other factors. Wendy is killed. John and Dieter destroy Clea and flee. Meanwhile, Sarah destroys another clone, Alissa. Skynet becomes sentient and begins its genocide.

In the final novel, Skynet kills three billion people and deploys machines to hunt survivors.