Chapter 24 – Part 24
Disclaimer: Nope. I do not own. Imagine what it would be like if I did own it. If you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me.
Acknowledgements: Choas Babe: for Rules 576 and 577
Sciencefictionsquirrel: for Rules 580, 581, and 588 (sheer brilliance!)
Apparently, spoons were disappearing at an alarming rate. Elizabeth decided that making Matrix references was not a good thing, especially considering the fact that Atlantis was sentient. But it was kind of funny to think that their city was pilfering their spoons and hiding them in some dark corner.
573. Hitting each other with yoga mats is not nice.
She didn't know why A-15 had thought that it would be a good idea to suddenly attack A-3 with yoga mats, but A-3 had now declared a prank war on A-15.
574. Prank wars may not interfere with missions.
Elizabeth wanted that to be clear. A-3 and A-15 separately assured her that they would be able to do their jobs accordingly. In that case, she had no probable with their prank war. It seemed . . . fairly harmless.
575. Remember to pack your towels when you go off-world.
A. You never know when you might need them.
B. They are all-important.
C. And have many practical uses.
Ronon hadn't believed Jen when she had told him that. Then A-1 had been attacked by the Genii. Rodney had a towel with him and had managed to save the day. Rodney got two kill-counts and Ronon learned a valuable lesson in the practicality of towels.
576. When you go back to Earth for a mental health break, you are not allowed to stay together, switching between houses every night.
A. We're sending you there to get you all away from each other.
B. And it seriously creeps out your families.
A-10 had done it when they had been on Earth. So had A-13, A-4, A-19, A-1, and several other teams. A-6 had brought along Anne's husband to introduce to her family. It was not very pretty, especially since she was so close to having her baby now.
577. Though teams are to stay together when off-world, Earth does not count as "off-world."
A. We CAME from there, people!
B. Well, most of us, anyway.
A-6 had used that excuse. They had even added that not everyone present had been born on Earth. Which was true. Anne's husband was a native of the Pegasus Galaxy. But it was still a bit unnerving at times, though it was funny to hear about the reactions of people back home when the teams refused to separate. The Joint Chiefs were getting very frustrated with their antics. Elizabeth couldn't really blame them.
578. You may not build Tesla Guns!
The entire Expedition had bonded over Warehouse 13. The Marine Brigade and Ronon all wanted the Tesla ray guns from the show. The Smart Camp had decided that they could build them. Three lab explosions and a very frazzled George, Radek, and Rodney later, Elizabeth was posting a new rule.
579. Anything's possible.
A. Especially in the Pegasus Galaxy.
B. And Atlantis.
C. Just some food for thought.
D. You have been warned.
Elizabeth thought that it was extremely pertinent to remind everyone of that little tidbit.
580. The State of Atlantis is now officially allowed to declare war against threats to Earth in the Pegasus Galaxy.
A. We are now all officially veterans of the Pegasus Galaxy War.
B. One step closer towards total independence, people.
C. But we can't secede and become our own country.
D. Or planet.
E. Yet.
Someone had mentioned that, since they were now their own state, they could try and secede from either all the countries with delegates in the Expedition and become their own country or even secede from Earth entirely and become their own planetary entity. While Elizabeth outwardly disapproved, she secretly supported the Lantean Independence Movement, as the endeavor quickly had become known as. Specifically, there were two LIM factions: the Country of Atlantis Movement, and the Lantean Planetary Independence movement. The names were pretty much self-explanatory.
581. If you support either of the Lantean Independence Movement factions, understand this: we do not technically have our own State Government yet, so we can't actually file to secede through peaceful means.
A. And we are not going to start an armed revolution against Earth.
B. Despite the fact that we have a large enough fleet that we could take the Earth on in an intergalactic war and probably win.
C. General O'Neill has agreed to see if he can try and legally get Atlantis declared either its own country or a colony of Earth.
D. At which point we can attempt to peacefully separate from Earth.
E. But neither Colonel Sheppard nor Dr. Weir will authorize the use of revolution to secede by force.
F. If we do manage to become completely politically independent from Earth, we're going to need Earth's support until we develop our own industrial and economic infrastructure.
G. Not to mention that, while we have more ships and our larger capital ships can regenerate, they have more advanced ships.
H. The last thing we need is to start a civil war. That wouldn't exactly look good on the Stargate Program's reputation when it finally gets revealed to the public.
Apparently, there was a large amount of support for the LIM. Most people seemed to favor the Planetary Independence faction, including Ronon, who was advocating immediately declaring their independence and using force to get the point across to Earth.
582. The yet-to-be-renamed fuzzy creatures of doom are officially an export of Atlantis.
A. But only to the Pegasus Galaxy.
B. Specifically, our allies.
C. For a reasonable price.
D. We are not allowed to sell them to anyone in the Milky Way Galaxy.
E. Especially anyone from Earth.
F. And Ronon still has control of them
Well, they were going to need some kind of official export. And the creatures of doom were very much that.
583. The Chicken Dance is not to be taught off-world.
It was actually A-1's fault this time. They had been a little nutty off-world. John and Rodney had broken out into the Chicken Dance. The natives wanted to learn. Teyla brought back fun pictures for the Wall. Ronon merely laughed.
584. Black-mail is NEVER an option.
A. Unless it's against one of our enemies.
Ronon had insisted on that one. Elizabeth didn't bother to ask the reasons behind it. Sometimes, she really didn't want to know.
585. Always remember to laugh.
A. Even at the idiotic things.
B. We need to make A-10 feel loved.
C. And laughter is always good.
No explanation was needed. The Expedition completely understood.
586. Don't piss off Charlotte.
A. She's still here.
Charlotte's hallway had been invaded by a few new-comers from Earth. The giant spider wasn't too happy about that. She had sent some of her young after said new-comers as a warning. Elizabeth issued a brief warning to everyone and explained to the new-comers. They weren't going to make the same mistake twice.
587. No new-comer will be pressured to join any LIM movement.
A. Give them some time.
B. They need to get a feel for us.
C. And to see if they'll last.
All LIM activities were widely known to be voluntary. The fact of the matter was, a vast majority of the Expedition was pushing for independence from Earth.
588. Do NOT attempt to create a working Genesis Device.
A. No.
B. Just . . . NO!
C. Rodney, please keep your ego in check.
A-13. 449. Original series Star Trek movies. Daring Rodney to try and duplicate the Genesis Device of The Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock. Rodney's ego did not allow him to refuse. He had to be stopped before he tried and screwed up royally. A decide that could reshape matter would not be something that they could recover from if it detonated.
589. Limit the number of bro-mances formed off-world.
John, in particular, seemed to have a bad habit of making male friends off-world – many of which were unusually close friendships. Many other male members of the Expedition seemed to be following in his footsteps. Teyla was quite unhappy. As she told Elizabeth, she did not like to share her man so readily.
590. Learn how to tie proper knots.
A. For those times when you don't have zip ties.
B. Anyone from the Marine Brigade can teach you.
C. Or Ronon.
D. Just ask them.
It was a helpful thing to know. Particularly, when encountering hostile natives or the Genii.
591. Do not go around introducing yourselves as characters from Alice in Wonderland.
A. Or dress the parts.
More than a few teams had begun to do that. The natives didn't always take too kindly to that. Several teams had been chased back through the 'Gate under fire because the natives had thought that they were crazy. Elizabeth couldn't blame them.
592. Hide all sugar packets from George.
A. He's allergic to them.
B. And we want Geroge to be healthy.
C. We really can't afford to lose him.
Somehow, it had taken them this long to figure that out. The Smart Camp had gotten really worried when someone had accidentally left a sugar packet from the mess hall in George's lab. He had eaten it. Luckily, between Carson and Jen, they had managed to get him stabilized and he was on the mend.
593. Be very careful about how you introduce yourselves.
Elizabeth had put that one out there was a general reminder.
594. No pillow fights off-world.
A. It stimulates a bad reputation for us.
A-2 had felt particularly frisky when on an over-night mission over-world. The natives hadn't taken too kindly to their impromptu pillow fight.
A sharp tap on her door drew Elizabeth's attention. She looked up to see Anne's husband standing there, nervously shifting from foot to foot.
"Yes, Zek?" she asked, patiently.
He broke into a grin. "Anne's gone into labor. I thought that I would let you know."
Elizabeth didn't bother to suppress her grin. "Well, what are you still doing here? Get your butt down to your wife!"
Zek didn't have to be told twice. He was gone in an instant. And Elizabeth set aside her other work to begin on the announcements to Atlantis (though everyone probably knew already) and to Earth.
Well, that's the end of Chapter 24. I hope you enjoyed it.
Anne's husband FINALLY gets a name. (I thought it was about time.) And she's delivering her baby. Exciting! You're just going to have to wait for the next chapter to find out about the baby.
Any ideas on the new name for the Mogwai? If so, send them to me.
And don't forget to press that nice button that says 'Review.' This author loves reviews. Plus, send me ideas for new rules.
Did anyone catch the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references?