Campaign Kandahar Chapter 1: And the world changes, a stargate: atlantis fanfic

Campaign Kandahar

Author: ShaViva

Rating: T

Content Warning: Mild swearing, some violence and war themes

Season: This is set after Red Flag, starting from November 2001 ... so, about season 6 of SG1, roughly.

Summary: World events propel Captain Evan Lorne to a place and a war far removed from home, creating the cornerstone of his future career. Again, pure Lorne, AU background series.

Classifications: Family, friendship, adventure

Pairings: None

Spoilers for: None

Acknowledgements: The UK production Fighter Pilot: Afghanistan, a six part documentary program I watched to get a feel for a day in the life of a fighter pilot during the conflict. That was set at Kandahar airfield a few years too late and they fly harriers not F-16s but it's close enough! It was certainly useful for the parts of this I set in Kandahar and its surrounds. Wikipedia for most of the other information, in particular about fighter wings and squadrons of the U.S. air force involved in Operation Enduring Freedom - I searched high and low to come up with the details of a wing that went to the conflict early AND flew F-16's and eventually found some good details there and at globalsecurity dot org; kdab dot afcent dot af dot mil; and dutchaviationsupport dot eu. I have also relied on Wikipedia as well as the michigandaily online archives for snippets of actual events that occur in Afghanistan when this story takes place.

Disclaimer: The Stargate characters, storylines, etc aren't mine. I am unfortunately not associated in any way with the creators, owners, or producers of Stargate or any of its media franchises – if I was Lorne would have been in A LOT more episodes. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, equipment, etc are the property of whoever owns them. The original characters and plot and anything else I made up are the property of me, the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Authors Note:

In filling in some of the remaining blanks of Lorne's background in this story I've touched on actual world events – not unexpected but I just wanted to say up front that I have the highest respect for the military and their efforts as well as real compassion for those who've suffered loss due to those world events. No trivialisation, disrespect or offense is intended.

Also, you'll see when you start reading this that the setting is totally unfamiliar to anything I could personally know about. Research can only get you so far and then it's up to me as the writer to fill in the gaps ... translation, make things up! If there are inaccuracies in those gaps then we'll all just have to live with them because I've done the best I can to make this realistic. This is all written too - just the usual editing required as I post each chapter.

And now, on with the story ... I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: And the world changes

Early November 2001

He'd been there a month and was already at the point where he felt like he'd never been anywhere else.

Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The Persian Gulf, an hour's flight at high speed from the heart of Afghanistan.

It was as sharp a contrast to familiar conditions as you could imagine. Hot days heading upwards to 100 degrees even so late in the year. Days that felt much hotter because of the lack of humidity followed by nights where the temperatures dropped sharply enough to have you shivering. And dust ... so bad that it hindered the use of anything electronic and increased tenfold the maintenance load on the ground crews.

The air quality on the base was terrible, because it was so dry and dusty and every movement kicked up a fresh wave of tiny particles – sand and dirt that got into everything. The base was active – something was going on 24/7 – so things never got a chance to settle.

The contrast was there in the landscape too ... once you headed towards the war zones near the Helmand Province and Kandahar City it was just so damn flat it felt unnatural, like God had taken a large plank to the area and smoothed out all the peaks and troughs. But surrounding that were mountain ranges large enough to be present in your line of sight no matter where you were heading.

How Lorne had gotten from his almost cushy posting at Nellis AFB to where he was now was as interesting as it was disheartening to a soul that believed in peace enough to pick up arms in defence of it.

It was an inescapable fact that the world was a different place to what it had been prior to September 11. He'd been at Nellis that day, 2500 miles away from the site of the worst terrorist attacks on civilians in American History. Too far away to do anything but look on, immobile and useless despite the power his squadron of F-16 fighting falcons represented. There had been no fighting for the air force that day - they'd been taken by surprise, forces already engaged elsewhere in the world, spread too thin and too removed to do anything until it was already too late. That grated, as it was meant to he thought - that the U.S. military had so little impact, that civilians had suffered while they'd been safe at their bases around the world.

Evan had only finished his Masters degree the month before. Since his first Red Flag, his first disastrous foray into romantic love, he'd focussed on study and work to the exclusion of everything else. It had been awkward at first but Nellis was big enough that if you really didn't want to see someone you didn't have to. Tanya had made it easy for him by avoiding him just as much as he avoided her. And eventually he'd gotten over it - that rush of pain and disappointment he got whenever he thought about the 'could have been's. Maybe he wasn't entirely over her but he'd put it behind him and reminded himself of what was really important. The air force; serving his country; work that meant something ... and flying, his first and enduring love. The plan had been to stay at Nellis, get done with his degree as quickly as he could and then move on again – playing at war had lost its appeal even before the events on September 11.

He'd stuck to that, putting in for a transfer as soon as his confirmation of completion had come through. The only thing he'd changed post the attacks was where he'd requested to go. Lorne didn't want to sit back and let someone else fight ... he wanted to be there, do what he could to take away any chance that it could happen again. To do that he needed to be on a fighting wing likely to get shipped out to assist in Operation Enduring Freedom.

He'd chosen the 366th fighter wing out of Mountain Home AFB in Idaho and luckily they'd accepted his request for a posting without apparent comment. There'd been a couple of days in the middle after he'd packed his stuff and shipped some non essentials back to his Mom, where he'd jumped on a plane for his new posting, via Cold Lake.

"You're going to Afghanistan?" Elaine was as serious as Evan had ever seen her – she knew what September 11 meant for the men she loved. Drew wasn't even scheduled to ship out to the conflict but Evan could see the worry in her eyes – the battle between wanting to keep her husband safe and close to home and the pride of knowing he wouldn't sit back, that something in him needed to defend those who couldn't defend themselves, that needed to make the world a better place that it felt right then.

"Soon," he admitted, settling back on the couch in her living room. Drew was still at work and Lorne welcomed the chance to speak to his sister alone.

"You volunteered."

It wasn't a question but Evan answered it anyway. "Yeah," he said unapologetically. 'I had to."

"Did you?" Elaine asked blandly.

"It's no different being posted anywhere," Evan felt almost defensive. Not that he thought he had any reason to be, but his sister's disapproval wasn't something he liked experiencing under any circumstances.

"We both know that's not true," Elaine returned, pinning him with a pointed look.

"Anywhere during a conflict," Evan corrected himself. He paused, leaning forward earnestly. "I'll be fine Lainee ... and you know I'm always careful."

"I know," Elaine forced a smile as she put a hand over his. "I'm glad you got to visit before you ship out."

"Me too." Evan grinned. "I still can't believe sometimes that you've grown up and have your own house to run. Are you sure you should be this mature?"

"What, you mean more mature than you?" Elaine retorted, slipping easily back into that sibling ribbing they'd mastered over years of growing up together.

"I'm mature ... enough," Evan laughed when she almost stamped her foot in frustration.

"You'll be mature enough when you settle down," she said, her face falling as soon as she realised that wasn't as sensitive as it could have been. "I'm sorry Evan," she said apologetically.

"What for?" he shot back. "Because of Tanya? I got over that a long time ago Sis ... all water under the bridge now."

Elaine didn't look like she believed him fully but she let the matter drop, the two settling in to talk about daily life in Cold Lake and what she'd been doing to fill her time. Evan smiled to hear her enthusiasm about volunteering through some of the projects run from Cold Lake, in between pursuing more art studies via correspondence.

It was just what he needed ... Evan would have done just about anything required to get those days with Elaine and Drew. All he'd wanted was to enjoy being with his family, to relax and soak up enough of that feeling of belonging to something bigger than himself while he could. To remind himself on a personal level what it was they were fighting for. Leaving was always a wrench, this time more than before because he really didn't know how long he'd be away, how long it would be before he saw his family again.

Repeating the same process with his Mom the next day didn't help but he couldn't have left without see her. They'd come a long way since Elaine's wedding in understanding the role the military played in their past, present and future. Grace Lorne had welcomed the time he got to spend with her and sent him off with a hug and an order that he at least write to her when he could. Thinking back to that time now Evan still smiled, although it was edged with regret that the war in Afghanistan was necessary at all.

That had only been the beginning of his journey to where he was now. Once at Mountain Home AFB they'd assigned Lorne to the 389th Fighter Squadron, already slated for deployment to Qatar six weeks from his arrival.

All Evan had to do was complete a refresher course in survival training and he'd be cleared to go. That sounded easy – it wasn't anything he hadn't already done before – but in practice, knowing they were teaching you things to cover situations that might actually occur only weeks and a whole world away made it a lot harder. He'd breezed through weapons handling, marksmanship, and combat first aid as well as all the tests of physical fitness and capability. It was all the extra things – nuclear, biological and chemical knowledge - they thought he might need that had Evan cringing, internally anyway.

The worst of all had been the chemical warfare suit test. They'd had to gear up in the full kit, protective suit and gas mask and then voluntarily head into a gas chamber that was going to be full of CS gas. 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, also known as tear gas was non lethal but exposure could still make you pretty sick and miserable. During the fifteen minutes he'd been in there Evan had to do a series of tasks – decontaminating his suit and changing the air filter on his mask had been easy but drinking some water when he'd been wearing a sealed and air tight mask turned out to be more than a little difficult. The last part, decontaminating his face, had capped off the unpleasant experience. For that you had to deliberately expose your entire head, all without breathing or opening your eyes, and then put the mask back on and purge your aspirator before you could take a few breaths and open your eyes again. No matter how careful you were the gas had touched your face – coupled with the natural moisture of skin the effects were unavoidable. A minuscule portion of gas got into his eyes and had them stinging and streaming with tears. Thankfully the burning sensation hadn't lasted and he'd come away thinking it really hadn't been that bad – not that he'd be lining up to repeat the performance.

They'd spent a lot of time on roadside bombs and IED's too – improvised explosive devices the Taliban were notorious for making use of – and on learning tactics to deal with an ambush. One of the biggest hazards of Afghanistan was its land mines – it was one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. The mines were well hidden, small but still capable of causing considerable damage. Various offenders over the history of the country had dropped them from the air and they just sat on the ground until someone stepped on them. The ones most commonly used were made out of plastic so they were hard to detect with a metal detector and worst yet, lasted for a very long time. Luckily Lorne didn't need to know as much as the bomb disposal guys, just enough to know what to do if he had to walk through one of them.

Training had flown by and all too soon Evan's squad was shipping out. The journey to Qatar was a long one and the preparations were rigorous. Getting together the things it was mandatory you take and the things the powers that be thought you should take distracting enough to almost take your mind off where you were going. There were the usual things - ten copies of his orders plus the ones he'd mailed Elaine and his Mom, although why he needed ten was a mystery only administration could answer; a whole bunch of other paper work for medical, immunisation records, weapons qualifications, security clearance and his airman's manual; as well as uniforms and linens and all the other personal stuff you needed to be so far away from home and any kind of convenience store. Each place also had its extra requirements. For the Middle East they stood out like a sore thumb, or an advert that said 'this is a harsh place to live'. Dust goggles, Malaria pills year round, desert boots, extra pairs of sunglasses and a Gortex cold weather jacket. Hot and dusty, cold too and with the threat of illness just around the corner - Lorne was pretty sure they didn't put that in the travel brochures.

The things you weren't allowed to bring were just as interesting. No civilian PT gear at all - when you weren't in UOD - uniform of the day, ABU's or desert flight dress uniform you wore the standard USAF physical training uniforms. No alcoholic beverages or non prescription drugs either. You could bring electronics but it was discouraged because chances were the dust would get into them and render them useless not long after you arrived, and for sure the military wouldn't be replacing them.

The U.S. had taken over the domestic airport in Qatar when they'd arrived a couple of months before. Although they didn't have a formal agreement with the country's government there hadn't been an official protest either. Afghanistan wasn't that far away ... having the U.S. air force living on your doorstep was probably seen as a good thing. They had the use of the main buildings and had erected a series of tents for housing troops. There were concrete barriers that had been brought in to protect them from attacks on foot, along with cameras and observation towers manned at all times. The 389th squardron was the only fighter squadron stationed there but not the only aircraft - they had the full range required to drop supplies into Afghanistan, conduct surveillance, provide defensive support - and all the troops needed to maintain them. Lorne hadn't done a head count but he'd guess there were about a thousand personnel on the ground, a number that seemed to be growing every day.

"Lorne."

Evan turned from where he'd been watching the ground crew doing maintenance on one of the planes to see one of his squad mates heading towards him. It was funny how the world worked ... he'd got himself on the 389th squadron with the grim purpose of doing his bit for the War on Terrorism and the first person he'd seen when he got to Mountain Home AFB had been Captain Piper Jones. It happened that way sometimes - some people you met at training and then never saw again, others turned up as though it had been planned all along. Seeing Piper again was like that. Turns out she'd felt the same way he had about actively getting involved in the U.S.'s efforts in Afghanistan. Mountain Home had a contingent of marine pilots stationed there and the continuing spirit of cooperation between the services had made it almost a formality for her to get a seat on Lorne's wing before it shipped out.

"Hey," he smiled as she stopped, standing in the thin patch of shade he was making.

"The new guy's here," Piper announced.

"Okay," Lorne got up and the two fell into step together. He'd agreed to brief their newest arrival because he'd be serving with their wing since the previous holder of that place had been sent home early with of all things appendicitis.

"Lieutenant, this is our wing leader, Captain Evan Lorne," Piper made the introductions before nodding and leaving Evan to it.

"Sir," a young man, tall and thin, stood to attention as soon as Lorne entered the orientation room.

"At ease Lieutenant," Evan said easily, looking at him curiously.

"First Lieutenant Scott Castles reporting for duty Sir," the new arrival said, relaxing only slightly.

"Welcome to Al Udeid Lieutenant," Lorne said, internally amused at the seriousness displayed. How long had this guy been out of flight school? His manner along with the strictly regulation cut of his dark hair and the starched perfection of his uniform had Evan placing him at the low end of the scale on real world experience. That was the thing about war – it graduated men and women into the action much younger than they otherwise would have, gave them the chance to fly missions they might never see during peace time.

"Thank you Sir," Lieutenant Castle replied.

"I'll give you a tour of the base in a minute, show you where everything is," Lorne began. "But before we do that there are a few things to say. You'll get a comprehensive briefing from the base Commander on the operational and support facets of our mission. This is more of an 'in the know' briefing, okay."

"Yes Sir," Castle nodded, brown eyes intent and earnest.

"Right ... well first up, keep your sleeves down at all times," Lorne said. "Wouldn't want to give those mosquitoes a bare skin invitation to come and dine on you. Malaria is a year round threat here." He watched impassively as the younger man hastily rolled his sleeves back down and buttoned them up. "The temperature drops rapidly after dark so make sure you keep your cold weather gear up to scratch. General Order Number 1 is enforced here, so no alcoholic beverages, no non prescription drugs and no entering the sleeping quarters of the opposite gender."

"No Sir," Castle looked faintly embarrassed at that last part and Lorne had to repress the urge to grin. Had he ever been that young and eager to impress?

"It might seem like we're a long way from the battle zone," Lorne continued, "but make no mistake, this is a live combat base. Vigilance and discipline at all times Lieutenant."

Castle nodded, doing his best not to look nervous. It was understandable – a first posting to somewhere with the stakes so high should be nerve wracking, otherwise you weren't taking it seriously enough.

"Okay, let's take that tour," Lorne motioned for the younger man to precede him outside. As they walked he pointed out the key points of interest ... "Admin – finances, supply requests, stuff like that. They'll take your letters home and get them out with the supply plane. Getting something to the States takes I don't know how long," Evan added. "I haven't gotten anything back from home yet."

"How long have you been here Sir?" Castle asked, adding quickly before Lorne could answer "if it's okay to ask Sir."

"A month," Lorne said easily. "We've had the run of Al Udeid since October – the facilities are a bit primitive right now but slowly over time the air expeditionary wing is creating some infrastructure and making everything a little more permanent." Continuing with his tour he pointed to his right. "That's the Mess building – used to be the airport cafeteria. Food is pretty much rations and MREs right now with a little fresh stuff when we can get it in. Laundry's next door – it's do it yourself for the time being until we get a few more base support staff posted here. And over there are all the accommodation tents."

They walked the main areas and then returned back to the orientation building. "Any questions?" Lorne asked.

"When can I get out there and flying Sir?" Castles predictably returned.

"All in good time Lieutenant," Lorne replied. "Since there're only the four F-16 pilots so far we run missions in pairs. Two in the air and two to cover things here just in case we get an emergency request for ground support. Captain Jones and I have the next scheduled mission tonight. You and Lieutenant Pearce will be flying tomorrow's mission, if there is one. After that I'll be switching the two man teams around to suit the missions." Castles nodded, his expression still that awkward mix of enthusiasm and nerves.

"Go find your bunk," Lorne concluded. "The base commander will talk to you this afternoon."

"Thanks for the briefing Sir," Castles said.

"No problem," Evan grinned, "and welcome to the three eight nine."

Authors Note:

I have no idea whether it's plausible that Piper could end up on the same wing as Lorne since he's airforce and she's marine corps ... and I don't really care! I liked writing her in Red Flag and feel I've maxed everyone out on all the OC's I've had to create for this series - it was nice to be able to keep one of them in place of creating yet another new face. Also this is a pretty heavy chapter on catching up with Lorne since Red Flag as well as setting up for the rest of the story - hope it's still interesting!