It's 1985. The year before, Skynet from the future sent a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah Connor. That was thwarted. This time they send one back to go after biotechnician Elise Fong, who has created a form of artificial skin for burn victims. It seems to be a prototype of the flesh used to cover the skeletons of Terminators. Elise is also targeted by ex-CIA agent Farrow Greene, who has been hired by a pharmaceutical company to capture her. She feels responsible for the death of her younger brother-and this has haunted her through her career. She's very jaded and angry-which helps her deal with the craziness she has to go through.
Although this is an entertaining story it's completely unnecessary to the Terminator movie mythos. It's just a side-track tale.