Disclaimer:
I do not own Stargate SG-1; Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA,
Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions do, and I give full acknowledgement
of that (good work guys). I do not own and am not affiliated in any way, with
the brands mentioned in this piece (such as Ford, BWM or Colt), more than likely
I've used them because they're known, or because they're very nice bits of kit
that I hope to have one day. Finally, I'm a student, don't sue me, I've got
nothing worth taking.
Authors note:
Having re-read what I put in the first
chapter, I'm not quite happy with it, and so I'll probably re-write certain
sections at a later date. (There's always that one little bit you'll never be
truely happy with)
Anyhow, here's another chapter for you all to look over and read, but I'd like
where you think I'm going wrong. I know I've not added any real SGC scenes in
yet, but this is an AU-ish fic, and there is a bit more to come, so be patient.
Enjoy
Spyder
Time frame:
Set in season 5, after the Stargate is revealed to all the other countries,
and before Daniel Jackson ascends
Stargate Command
72 hours previously
As the metal security door slid open with a clunk, the sounds of many pairs of feet hitting the mesh ramp to the gate echoed around the room, followed by a set of distinctly British voices.
".. next time I ask you to 'ave 'im Sergeant, I mean f'king 'AVE 'IM! Not pussy foot around scaring him shitless" Commander Hawkins said, removing the magazine from his gun and whacking it against his palm hard.
"Yeah well, if you'd have actually shifted like I told you to, I would've"
the less than imposing voice of a rather gangly looking sniper team leader replied.
From the back of the group, another voice popped up, "Yeah sir, you know
what 1-chance Charlie's like; his record for hitting the right person isn't
all that great".
A few of the other men laughed aloud as 'One-Chance Charlie' scowled; it was almost legend that the day he actually goes out on the pull and has a success that lasted longer than 2 minutes would be the day hell froze over.
"Hey" Charlie began in his defence, "How the hell was I supposed to know she was the Boss's lady?"
Commander Hawkins stopped at the bottom of the ramp, turning to face his men. "Oi, you leave Cate out of it you dirty minded monkeys" he said, making sure to wave his mag in their general direction.
He turned to see a rather angry looking General Hammond and an equally irate Brigadier Turell by his side, with a concerned looking SG-1 standing back in the entry way to the gate room.
As innocently as he could, Hawkins looked at the two men and asked the obvious question. "Problem sir?"
He could almost see the steam coming out from the Brigadiers ears.
"Lieutenant" he said, as calmly as possible "What were your orders
for this specific mission?"
Hawkins had to think about that for a second, but the answer came quickly. "To find and recover an Asguard holocrystal and bring it back to the SGC for identification and analysis."
"Yes and where perchance IS this crystal?" Brigadier Turell asked, harshly
Before he had a chance to answer, the demolitions expert Corporal Robert 'Bob the Bomber' Gryffiths spoke up for him. "Blown to bits sir and scattered over an area 4 klicks wide" he said in a gruff 'matter of fact' tone that didn't impress the Brigadier one bit.
Turell responded quickly "Why did you not try to recover the object?" Hawkins could see where this was leading and didn't like it a bit, but decided to play along.
"First rule of combat sir, if in doubt, blow it up" he said, pleased with himself.
By this time, General Hammond was just amazed at how nonchalantly Hawkins and his team had reacted, and decided to give up, leaving in a huff.
"I want to see you first thing tomorrow Mr Hawkins" Turell impressed onto his subordinate, as harshly as he could, before walking out in kind.
Hawkins just turned to the remainder of the group, who were just standing there. Gryffiths just shrugged, while the others stood there with questioning looks on their collective faces. As far as they were concerned, they'd completed the mission satisfactorily.
As they walked off the ramp, a very slender figure emerged from next to SG-1,
and approached the group.
Even in a pair of OD Green trousers, and a black t-shirt, she still looked stunning,
Hawkins mused as his 'lady', Agent Catherine Joan Archer, stopped in front of
him.
He smiled, and knocked back his boonie, pocketing the mag quickly.
"I suppose you're expecting a kiss" she said, calmly, as all eyes
seemed to focus on the pair.
"Well, yeah I was actually" he replied, as she took a step forward.
Raising her hand to behind his ear, she leaned forward until their faces were
less than an inch away, sniffing him slightly, still toying with his ear.
"Well" she breathed heavily running her hand along his jaw line "I
think you need to get cleaned up first" she said, removing a bit of leaf
from her finger, and wiping it off onto his scrim scarf, winking before slowly
walking off.
Sniggers were heard from all round, and each member of his team consoled him on being blown off, big time in front of the entire SGC as they left the gate room.
Hawkins just smiled, and reached for his pocket, pulling out her car keys, wondering how long it would be before she realised he had them.
"For crying out loud general, that's the third mission they've gone on in the past week, and the third one where they've failed to complete the mission!" Jack bellowed, leaning forward onto the empty chair in front of the Generals desk.
"I know that Colonel, but from what I've been told, they've been told that taking something out is better than retrieving it when under enemy attack" Hammond replied, as diplomatically as his Texan accent allowed
Gripping his chair harder, Jack just let rip with his answer, glad that the general's office was soundproofed. "Ok, I can understand that, but what happened to the Tok'ra guy they were supposed to bring back, alive I might add"
"Well sir, honestly sir" Major Carter said, interrupting the General before he could reply "they did what we would have done, only, well, they did it quicker"
By this time they were all referring to a mission 4 days ago, where general Hammond sent the newly joined British Stargate Team, known simply as Brit One until their were given an official designation, to a hostile planet to make contact and rescue a Tok'ra operative from one of Baal's fortresses.
Unfortunately for the Tok'ra operative, the British team had learned that he had been working for Baal all along, and did as they had been trained, ambushing and killing the renegade spy and his Jaffa bodyguards as they made their way to the stargate, before hanging the spy's corpse from a tree, upside down, with very precise cuts along the neck and wrists letting the blood drain out slowly, as a warning.
Apparently, from what Selmak and his host Jacob Carter had said, it was enough to leave a lasting impression, as word spread of a new enemy that could appear and disappear as and when they wanted, leaving none alive.
While impressive, it was definitely not an act of professionalism which the senior officers of the SGC prided themselves on, and now their three-mission trial period was up, General Hammond, Colonel O'Neil and Majors Carter and Davis had to decide whether to accept them as the non-US team based at the SGC, or get a Russian, French or Chinese team to join the SGC, and with the diplomat, Major Davis gone for a few days, that left the scientist, the soldier and the general to decide their fate, but tempers had flared quickly.
Or rather, one persons temper had flared quickly, and although he would prefer having a British team at the SGC rather than a Russian or French team, their recent actions left a lot to be desired.
"Ok, so their fast, and they left a lasting impression, I'll give them that, but come on sir that's the last thing we need right now with Anubis, Baal, and all the rest of the snakeheads already breathing down our necks" he said, angrily.
"He has a point sir" Major Carter said, trying to reinforce her CO's position. "With Anubis not an official system lord yet, it means we're not covered by the protected planets treaty, and with the Asguard still recovering from their problem with the replicators, I can't see the other system lords coming to protect us. We're vulnerable sir".
"I can understand your position Jack, but you've got to understand, we have to have a non-US team based here, at all times. Or we loose the Naquadria research and a Naquada reactor, and you of all people Major should realise what would happen if one of those falls into enemy hands"
Admitting defeat Colonel O'Neil simply kicked the chair in frustration, before taking a step back and turning away. With all the frustration inside of him, he could have probably punched down the concrete wall in front of him, but instead, he just leaned forward and used it as a rest.
"There has to be another way round this sir" O'Neil finally said, speaking into the wall.
"Not this time colonel. Major Davis has looked at any possible loopholes we could exploit, but according to him, there aren't any. I'm sorry Jack, there's nothing I can do from this end"
Jack sighed. It was going to be a long night.