Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1 or anything associated with it, as much as I would like to. There will be mentions of real life people thoughout this story, mainly high ranking military members or politicians. Any views or comments made by them in this story do not represent those people's views or comments in real life. There may be several ship designs mentioned or shown later in the story, and they are used with the kind permission of the creator. If there is an image or description that is owned by someone and I haven't credited it, can you please let me know so I can contact the creator to request permission.
A/N: One of the biggest issues I had with the Stargate SG-1 episode Disclosure was the appearance that General Hammond and Major Davis were completely unprepared for the meeting with the Ambassadors. They didn't provide the Ambassador's with any information other than what Major Davis showed on the screen - there wasn't any folders handed out with detailed information, mission reports etc. It's as if they were both ordered to the Pentagon, met outside the doors to the room and informed "Oh by the way, representatives from the other UN Security Council members are inside, you're briefing them on the Stargate programme. Good Luck." The disclosure briefing also jumped around a lot, essentially making it a very confused mess, especially in the beginning, when it was revealed the Russian's had also had a Stargate programme.
As such, I've had them be a lot more prepared in this story. This in turn will allow the other countries that we didn't see much of in the Stargate franchise, especially the UK and France, take a bigger part here. This should also help the Disclosure briefing be a lot more organised and less likely to jump around.
Another thing that bothered me was Senator Kinsey. In Disclosure, he appeared to be at times condescending, rude and at times confrontational towards General Hammond and Major Davis. Here some of that will be addressed by either General Hammond or Major Davis being able to defend themselves (thanks to being prepared) or being defended by one of Ambassadors.
23rd January 2003
Conference Room, Pentagon
As he stood talking to Jean-David Levitte, the French ambassador to the United States, Sir David Manning, the newly appointed UK ambassador, couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Only a few days into his appointment to Washington, and he had already been requested to join a meeting here in the Pentagon, together with the French and Chinese ambassadors and Colonel Chekov, a Russian military attaché. That more than anything else at the moment confused him. Why wouldn't the Russian's send their own ambassador to join this meeting, instead sending a military attaché, unless they already knew what the meeting what about and merely wished to show their support for it.
Finishing up their conversation, Sir David and Jean-David moved over towards the refreshments table to refill their cups, and couldn't help but overhear the Russian colonel's and Yang Jiechi's, the Chinese ambassador, discussion.
"We've been over this, Mr. Ambassador," started Chekov.
"Your submarine, yes, yes." Interrupted Yang Jiechi.
"The missile sub Rostov was less than seventy-five kilometres from the impact of the meteor. The shockwave caused severe damage and she sank to the bottom of the ocean."
"And in the spirit of international cooperation, a deep submergence rescue vehicle was sent from Pearl Harbor. But wasn't able to reach her in time." stated Yang Jiechi, sounding rather annoyed.
"Yes. Unfortunately the Rostov's reactor went critical before she arrived on the scene, resulting the loss of the submarine and crew"
"Why do you insist on maintaining this story? I have heard your government repeat this story time and time again. Yet according to our naval intelligence service, on the day in question, the submarine in question was in fact still taking on supplies in the harbour at Vladivostok."
"What can I say, Ambassador? Your intelligence is wrong. And not for the first time, I might add." Replied Chekov, walking over to the refreshments table and placing his empty cup of tea down.
Yang Jiechi sighed, frustrated, and followed Chekov to the table. "Colonel, the Americans are hiding something and have been for years now. That Russia seems to have no objection is all the more confusing and worrying." Seeing the French and British ambassador's making their way towards them, he added, "And not just for my government."
Sir David smiled slightly as he recognised the invitation given to him by Yang Jiechi.
"Gentlemen, we couldn't help but overhear."
"Yes, as I was trying to explain," started Chekov, before being interrupted by Sir David.
"My dear Colonel, if we can agree on anything it's that your lost submarine in merely the latest in a long list of extremely unlikely events the Americans have attempted to foist upon us as 'the truth.'"
"I have to agree," said Jean-David "The Americans are up to something."
"And now they have summoned us here for some reason."
Yang Jiechi snorted slightly, before replying, "No doubt to hear more stories of falling meteors and exploding hot air balloons."
"Mr. Ambassador, I'm sure we can provide you with the necessary evidence." Chekov started, as the doors of the room opened and two United States Airforce personnel, a two-star General and a Major, who Sir David believed to be General Hammond and Major Davis, the Head and Pentagon Liaison for a Project Bluebook, along with a Russian Army Captain and a USAF airman, carrying a large pile of folders, entered the room.
"That won't be necessary Colonel." Chekov looked shocked as General Hammond said this.
"General?" Queried Sir David, looking confusedly between the US General and the Russian Colonel.
Rather than responding, the General looked over at the US Major, who stepped forward.
"Gentlemen, if you could be seated please. We are supposed to be joined by Senator Kinsey, who heads the Appropriations Committee, but it appears as though he has been delayed slightly."
Still feeling rather confused, Sir David joined the other's moving over to the conference table in the middle of room, and sitting down. General Hammond also sat down at one end of the U-shaped table, while Major Davis stood in front of the table, next to a video screen, and the Russian Captain moved round to sit behind Colonel Chekov. As they did this, the airman moved around the table, placing a number of folders in front of each person, before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
"Thank you. First and foremost, gentlemen, welcome to the Pentagon. I am Major Davis. I am the Pentagon liaison to the project that we are briefing you on today, and this is General Hammond, the project's commanding officer.
"Please forgive any security measures you've had to undergo in order to get here. In America, we try never to underestimate the competence or curiosity of our media. We've asked you here to inform you of a top-secret operation the United States Air Force has been operating out of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. It's called the Stargate Program."
As Major Davis said this, the screen behind lit up and displayed an image of the Stargate. While he continued speaking, the screen slowly changed to show various recordings of the Stargate in use, as well as a wire-frame detailed image of it, showing the constellations visible on the inner ring.
"Gentlemen, the Stargate. The device itself was discovered in Egypt in 1928 where it lay buried for several thousand years. In 1945, a team of scientists hoping to find a military application for the device successfully established a stable wormhole by a process of random dialling. It was, for all intents and purposes, a lucky accident, which they were unable to repeat. The Gate remained inactive. Until eight years ago, when this man,"
Here he clicked a button, and a picture and biographical details of Dr Daniel Jackson appeared on screen.
"Dr. Daniel Jackson, joined the programme. Dr. Jackson successfully deciphered the symbols on the Gate, allowing us to begin routine exploration of alien worlds. Since that time, Mr. Ambassadors, we have visited literally hundreds of planets. Thousands more remain to be explored."
With that, the Ambassador's gave out various exclamations of disbelief at this information, before General Hammond raised his voice slightly.
"I know it's a lot to process gentlemen, but I can assure you it is true. The first time I saw the Gate activated, I could barely believe my eyes."
"Agreed General." Interjected Colonel Chekov from his seat.
At that, Sir David looked round at the Colonel, before looking back at Major Davis and General Hammond. "You mean Russia knows about this? General, did your president not recently call Great Britain America's closest ally, and yet Russia was informed before us?"
General Hammond and Major Davis looked at each other, slightly uncomfortably, before General Hammond sighed and responded. "One of our own people illegally sold the Russian's information which temporarily allowed them to operate their own program."
Ambassador Levitte now turned to Colonel Chekov, "You had one of these Stargate's?"
Sensing that if it continued, this conversation would completely derail the meeting and simply lead to more confusion on the part of the Ambassador's, Major Davis quickly spoke up to regain control of the meeting.
"We will get to that soon gentlemen, I promise, but if we can stay on track, it will be a lot clearer for everyone. Now, the folders on the table in front of you will provide far more information for you than we can in this briefing, and they are for you to take away and provide to your governments. If you would like to look over the information contained within them as we carry on, you are more than welcome to."
Here Major Davis was interrupted as the doors behind General Hammond were swung open, revealing a couple of USAF airmen standing guard and Senator Kinsey entering the room, carrying a briefcase, sitting down next to Colonel Chekov.
"Gentlemen, my apologies for being late, I had a meeting on the Hill that couldn't be postponed."
As he sits down, General Hammond greets him, before Kinsey carries on.
"General. What have I missed so far?"
Rather than General Hammond answering, Ambassador Levitte interjected, with a small amount of sarcasm in his voice.
"Oh not much Senator, just your officers telling us what sounds like several tall tales, as you might say."
"You're telling me that you've been at this God knows how long and they don't even believe you?" responded Senator Kinsey, with a very clear scoff in his voice, looking over at General Hammond and Major Davis, "If that doesn't take the cake. Well gentlemen, I don't know exactly what they've told you but it's true. The Stargate exists and they go through the damn thing on a daily basis."
Sir David leaned forward in his chair at this, looking at Senator Kinsey. "With all due respect Senator, the meeting only started a couple of minutes ago, so please forgive us if it takes a little bit longer to believe something like this, especially when sprung on us out of the blue like that."
Following his little dressing down of Senator Kinsey, which he noticed that both Major Davis and General Hammond looked slightly pleased at, and he suspected there was a hint of thankfulness in their expressions, he addressed them.
"Please gentlemen, I believe you were about to start explaining just what this Stargate is."
"Thank you Mr Ambassador. The Stargate system was created by a race of Aliens, that we only know as The Ancients, approximately 50 million years ago, and thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of Stargate's were placed on planets across the galaxy, and potentially other galaxies as well.
"The Ancients lived in this galaxy for millions of years, forming an alliance with 3 other races, the Nox, The Furlings and the Asgard. There is more information on each of those in your folders so I won't go into too much detail on them here, but the Asgard are a close ally of the Stargate Programme, mainly due to the actions of our flagship team, SG-1."
Here Major Davis was interrupted by a dismissive snort of contempt coming from Senator Kinsey, who leaned forward in his chair and looked around at the delegates. "With all due respect Major, it is SG-1's actions that have resulted in the precarious position Earth is in at the moment, with their inept blundering around, sticking their noses in places they shouldn't have and putting Earth under imminent threat of invasion or annihilation."
At this, the ambassadors stirred, looking around the room at each other, before Yang Jiechi appeared to take charge, looked over at General Hammond and demanded "General, I think I speak for my colleagues here when I say that you need to answer that accusation."
Nodding, Jean-David Levitte also spoke up. "If what the Senator is saying is true, then the United States government has unilaterally taken actions which have placed the whole world in jeopardy."
"Believe me Mr Ambassador," Kinsey replied, "I know how you feel. When this was first brought to my attention, I insisted that the Gate was too dangerous to remain in operation. Unfortunately, to the detriment of Earth, I was overruled."
General Hammond then spoke up, both to defend his command's decisions and actions, as well as to provide a more balanced argument for the ambassadors. "With all due respect, Senator, the President took your recommendation. And it nearly resulted in disaster. It was only because of the efforts of SG-1 who violated your order to shut down the Gate, that we managed to survive."
"Oh, and they've done a great job since, under your command, haven't they General? You managed to defeat the Goa'uld known as Apophis only to see him replaced by another more dangerous one. Isn't that a fair assessment?"
General Hammond sighed a little before looking at each ambassador in turn. "We were going to be getting to this, I promise, but we were planning on giving you some background first, before jumping straight into it. However, as Senator Kinsey has brought it up, I will admit, that yes, we are currently at war with a race known as the Goa'uld, one of the most dangerous to us at the moment is Anubis.
"Essentially the Goa'uld are a parasitical, snake-like race that burrows into the back of a hosts neck, which unfortunately are mainly human, and take control of their body. In their language, Goa'uld literally means God, which is what they claim to be to the numerous worlds they control, enslaving the populations and forcing them to wage wars in their names."
Here he finished as Major Davis stepped up and carried on.
"The Goa'uld first encountered Earth several thousand years ago, when one member of that race came upon our planet. He realised that humans made excellent hosts, slaves and warriors for his race, so he took one, an Egyptian boy, as his host. He then set himself up as a god using his advanced technology, either co-opting the existing Egyptian religion or creating a new one, naming himself Ra. He then allowed other Goa'uld to come to Earth and set themselves up as gods as well, although he remained the overall leader of their race.
"At least a thousand years passed, with Ra and the Goa'uld remaining in control of Earth. During this time, they took numerous groups of humans, from different cultures across the world, and transplanted them to other worlds in the galaxy, setting up their own domains and fiefdoms, using the transplanted humans as slaves and breeding stock for future hosts. It was also at this time that some humans, mainly the biggest and strongest, were genetically altered in a slave warrior race, known as the Jaffa, while also serving as incubators for the Goa'uld young.
"At some point, a rebellion was formed on Earth which successfully drove the Goa'uld away, liberating the planet and burying the Stargate, which had been used as a major point of Goa'uld control, in Egypt. It is believed that due to the human populations across the galaxy, Ra was unwilling to spend the resources needed to reconquer Earth, so it was simply left alone."
General Hammond once again took up lead on the presentation as Major Davis stepped back to the podium by the side of the video screen, which, while he had been talking, had been showing various images of the Goa'uld and Jaffa, as well as images relating to the various worlds encountered by the SGC over their years operating.
"As was said at the beginning of this meeting, the Stargate remained buried in Egypt until it was discovered by an archaeological dig in 1928 and brought to the US. Although there were some experiments on it during WW2, it wasn't until 1994 when we were able to activate it for the first time. It was decided by the administration at that point to send a military team through the Stargate in an effort to explore what was on the other side. At this point, they had no way of knowing whether the team could even return, so they did expect it to be a one way trip. However, in the event that they encountered a hostile presence on the other side of the Stargate, the team was equipped with a Mk3 Nuclear Warhead, with orders to detonate it if whatever was there posed a threat to the US, and by extension Earth.
"The team encountered a native human population on the planet, known as Abydos, and half of the team went with them to their city of Nagada while the other half remained at the Stargate." Here the video screen switched to show images taken by both the original mission team, as well as other teams visiting the planet since, including the large pyramid (both exterior and interior photos) as well as images of the planet, including the three moons, and both the city of Nagada and the Naquadah mine, "With a technological level equivalent to Ancient Egypt. They were used to mine an element, not found on Earth, known as Naquadah, an element that not only is the main component in the Stargate's themselves, but is also the basis for the majority of the Goa'uld technology, for their god, Ra.
"Ra wasn't on the planet at the time our team arrived, but a couple of days into the mission, a sandstorm picked up over night, and by the morning, the group that had gone to the city was able to see that a large ship had landed on the Pyramid, using it as a landing platform." Once again, the screen in front of the table changed to show several photo's of Ra's ship sitting on Abydos' pyramid. In addition, unlike the previous image of the pyramid, this one included a scale, causing consternation among the Ambassadors, and Colonel Chekov to a certain extent, as it indicated that the base of the ship was almost 300 metres across, with the pyramid itself being almost an exact match for the Great Pyramid of Giza.
"It was only afterwards, that the team realised that the other half of the team, that had remained behind at the Stargate, had been attacked, by at the time, unknown aliens, what we now know as Jaffa, and had all been killed. I should hasten to add that this was unprovoked. There were only 4 members left near the Stargate, and of them, 3 were killed without getting a shot off in return. The remainder of the team, in an attempt to contact the then unknown aliens, had themselves been attacked and captured, leading to them being thrown in a cell with the bodies of their comrades."
Major Davis once again stepped up to take over from General Hammond, as he handed round copies of printed mission reports from the survivors of that initial mission.
"Following the capture of those men, they were interrogated and it was revealed that they came from Earth. As such, Ra realised that we as a planet had become technologically advanced enough to pose a threat to the Goa'uld and decided to act to remove that threat, namely by sending an explosive device, in fact the nuclear weapon the team had brought with them, though the Stargate to Earth and detonating it. The explosion would have been powerful enough to destroy the Stargate, the Naquadah in which would have then enhanced the explosion many times over, causing the destruction of Cheyenne Mountain, where the SGC is based, the dust and debris of which would have caused a Nuclear Winter to spread across the planet, lowering the temperature significantly and blocking out sunlight, likely resulting in the majority of the planet's population dying off due to lack of food and warmth. The remainder would then have been easy pickings for Ra to either destroy or enslave at ease.
"Luckily the survivors of the team were able to prevent this attack, sending the explosive up to Ra's ship, which at that point was in orbit over Abydos, where it detonated, killing Ra."
General Hammond stood from his seat and moved around in front of the table, ensuring that all eyes were on him.
"Gentlemen, that was merely our first exploration through the Stargate, and the Goa'uld attacked us unprovoked and attempted to destroy the entire planet for no reason other than the fact that we existed and were advanced enough to pose a threat to him. Following that, the survivors were able to return to Earth and reported the encounter, and the Gate on Abydos was buried by the Abydonians. The Stargate here then sat unused for 3 years, due to our belief that it could only travel to Abydos, until, on July 27th 1997, it activated and another Goa'uld, this time Apophis arrived, and again unprovoked, proceeded to attack several US Airmen who were using the room the Stargate was stored in as a break room, killing the majority and kidnapping one of them to use as a possibly host for his queen, Amaunet.
"In our first two encounters with the Goa'uld, once on Abydos and once on Earth, both times they attacked us without provocation, simply because they could and because they believed themselves to be better than us. We did not start this war gentlemen, and, unlike what Senator Kinsey would have you believe, we are not responsible for the threat this planet is under. No matter if we were using the Stargate or not, eventually a Goa'uld would have arrived at Earth in a ship, even if it was simply a raid to gather more slaves at some point to strengthen themselves in relation to their rivals, seen our technological development and attacked us."
Following that initial reveal, the meeting carried on for another hour, with General Hammond, Major Davis and on occasion Colonel Chekov walking the various ambassadors through the Stargate Programme, the various races and technology they have encountered, with Senator Kinsey pointing out what he called the multiple mistakes made by Stargate Command. Also discussed was the several attempts by certain members of the NID to gain control over advanced technology, technologically advanced people rescued by the SGC, such as the Tollan and even the Stargate Programme itself. However, Senator Kinsey often downplayed these event, claiming them as a few "rogue" members, including at least one now wanted for treason, or as members of the USAF instead of the NID. Eventually however, the discussion came around to the technology developed by the SGC to help defend Earth from a Goa'uld attack.
As Major Davis talked, the video screen behind him showed various design images, photo's and videos of the units he was talking about.
"During the six years that the Stargate has been in operation, we've acquired a working knowledge of certain alien technologies. We've tried to adapt those technologies to our own uses. Towards that end, two years ago we developed a hybrid fighter-interceptor known as the X-301. It was a combination of human technology and parts from two salvaged Goa'uld Udajeet, or Death Gliders. Unfortunately, the prototype failed to live up to expectation."
He was suddenly once again interrupted by Senator Kinsey, "Failed to live up to expectation? That's putting it mildly Major. It was a complete and utter disaster. A failsafe device built into the Death Gliders used as a basis for it was missed by the people who built it, resulting in it being locked on a ballistic course out of the solar system, almost killing the two pilots."
Pointedly ignoring Senator Kinsey's interruption, Major Davis continued with his explanation.
"Although the X-301 was a failure, we did learn a lot about the technology and as such began to concentrate on creating an entirely man-made craft, with similar abilities to the X-301. The result is the X-302 fighter-interceptor.
"It is capable, thanks to it's inertial dampeners and advanced engines, of reaching a theoretical maximum speed in atmosphere of approximately Mach 6, and allowing the pilots to withstand extremely high-g manoeuvres, that would cause a pilot in any other aircraft to instantly blackout, if not loose consciousness."
At this point, he was once again interrupted, not by Senator Kinsey this time, but by Yang Jiechi.
"Do you mean to tell me that the United States Air Force is currently flying an interceptor that is capable of both aerial combat and space flight?"
"It is still currently in the prototype phase at the moment Mr Ambassador, but essentially, yes, that's correct."
"This is utterly unacceptable."
General Hammond then attempted to calm him, and by extension the other ambassadors, who he could see were also rather agitated, down. "Mr Ambassador, I understand how you feel . . ." before being interrupted as Yang Jiechi talked over him.
"With all due respect General, I don't think you do. Your government has been operating this Stargate for six years, supposedly for the benefit of all mankind. Yet now we find out you've been taking advantage of the situation. To create military hardware that radically alters the balance of power on this planet."
"The X-302 was designed to defend this world against the Goa'uld. We have no intention of using it against our neighbours."
"And for that, we have only your word."
"I have to agree with my colleague here," interjected Ambassador Levitte. "Just because your current government has no intention of using this technology against other countries on Earth, who's to say the next government, or the government after that, wouldn't use it. And you are also embroiled in a war in Afghanistan at the moment, and mobilising for an invasion of Iraq as well. How long before this technology is used in those conflicts? And once it is, it then becomes far easier to justify using it again, this time against other countries."
Ambassador Manning leaned forward, stopping this argument before it could really take shape. "General, Major. Are there any other new technologies that we need to know about? As while this X-302 is impressive, I seriously doubt that even a squadron of them would be able to take on a Goa'uld vessel. A Hat-Ak was it?"
Sighing quietly, General Hammond looked at Major Davis for a second, before Senator Kinsey spoke quietly, "You might as well tell them General, they're gonna find out sooner or later."
"Ha'tak Mr Ambassador, and yes. Ever since we encountered a Goa'uld Ha'tak, we have been working to find a viable counter measure. As such, we are currently in the process of building a prototype battlecruiser, the X-303, or Prometheus."
The screen here changed to show a wire-frame schematic of the X-303, with Major Davis taking centre stage, so to speak.
"As General Hammond said, the Prometheus is a prototype battlecruiser designed to fight Goa'uld Ha'tak class vessels. As you can see from the schematics, it is armed with modified railgun and nuclear missiles for engaging enemy ships and fighters, and carries 8 X-302 fighter-interceptors in a hangar bay located here, at the base of the command tower. It is also the first of hopefully several planned, both for the United States and Russia, although we hope eventually for your countries as well."
At this, Ambassador Yang Jiechi stood up. "I must contact my government immediately."
"Mr Ambassador. We volunteered this information in a spirit of cooperation. We're trying to create a coalition to defend the entire world."
Ambassador Levitte scoffed slightly, "Under your leadership General?"
"We do have the experience Mr Ambassador."
"I'm sorry General," Ambassador Yang started closing the folders sitting in front of him, "But it may be impossibly to achieve an agreement as long as the Stargate and any resulting technologies remain solely under the control of the United States military."
Both Ambassador Levitte and Ambassador Manning looked over at him at this comment.
"What do you suggest?" queried Ambassador Manning.
"We could move the Gate to a neutral location and create a permanent staff for it, drawn from all five nations" suggested Jean-David Levitte.
"I'm sorry Mr Ambassador, but the United States wouldn't be able to agree to that."
At that statement, Ambassador Yang scoffed, "Well, that choice may finally not be up to you. Once the rest of the world learns of the Stargate, they may well demand it."
Sensing an argument building, and possibly an opportunity, Senator Kinsey spoke up. "Gentlemen, please! Perhaps I can offer a compromise. Please?" indicating to the now abandoned chairs around the table, as both Ambassador Yang and General Hammond sit back down. "I sympathise with the ambassador's position. A device as powerful as the Stargate in the hands of a military organisation. It's a recipe for abuse. Despite everyone's best intentions."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Well, as has previously been mentioned, we have a civilian agency called the NID. Now, it's mandate has been to keep an eye on top secret projects, such as the Stargate programme, and has done so from the beginning. It is civilian run, but does incorporate a large amount of military personnel in its ranks. I propose that we give this organisation direct control of the Stargate, effective immediately."
"You can't be serious Senator."
"I'm completely serious General. The NID is the only organisation, besides the Air Force, that has the knowledge, experience and skill to run the Stargate"
"They tried to kill you Senator."
"Come now, Major. Those were rogue agents working for outside interests. Under the NID I'm sure that we can determine a suitable level of participation for all the great nations represented here at this table."
"Senator, could we speak in private?"
However, before Senator Kinsey could respond, and it was obvious to several people in the room that he would likely refuse, Ambassador Yang spoke up. "I find your reluctance to relinquish military control over the Stargate disturbing."
"You'd do a lot better to trust the United States Air Force than the NID, Mr Ambassador."
"General Hammond has a personal prejudice against the organisation." Senator Kinsey said, leaning back in his chair.
"Personal prejudice? Senator, their record speaks for itself. Kidnapping, blackmail, theft. We're talking about a borderline criminal organization whose true mandate has always been to acquire alien technology at any cost, and not care about the consequences to anyone else. But yes, you could say I have a personal prejudice against them. Especially as 2 confirmed NID agents picked my granddaughters up from school one day, took them for a drive around town and then dropped them off at home, leaving me a message telling me to resign. That attempt to gain control over the Stargate was traced back to at least 1 high ranking member of the NID, although I don't know exactly who."
Kinsey rolls his eyes at this and scoffs, while the Ambassadors, and Colonel Chekov are understandably concerned about this. "Granted, the NID has employed some questionable methods in the past, but we're all agreed the status quo won't do. And I would hesitate to point fingers, General Hammond, that you and Jack O'Neill are still in charge of the Stargate program—"
"If you're questioning our record…"
Deciding that if allowed to continue, this obvious animosity between Senator Kinsey and the SGC personnel would likely devolve into a shouting match between them, Ambassador Manning quickly spoke up. "Gentlemen, if I may interrupt this argument. We have been at this a while now. Perhaps it would be best for us to take a break for a while, allow everyone to cool their heads."
Both Ambassador Yang and Ambassador Levitte are quick to agree with this, with Ambassador Levitte adding, "Yes, it will also allow us to look over these reports in more detail. If I may Major, would you be willing to remain, to help answer any questions we may have as we look through these folders."
Worried that he would loose any influence over the ambassadors, Senator Kinsey quickly spoke up, "Nonsense Ambassador. I'm sure both the General and the Major have duties they need to attend to. I however am totally free for the rest of today, so I would be more than willing to help out as necessary."
Here Ambassador Yang smirked slightly, before speaking, "No Senator, we couldn't possibly impose upon your time while we are merely reading reports. Besides, you came here straight from a meeting on the Hill, hence why you were late. As such, you can't have had a break for hours. I certainly wouldn't be right for us to take up any more of you time at the moment. Shall we reconvene in say, 2 hours? I believe that would be enough time for us to be able to get through enough of this information."
"Certainly Mr Ambassador," replied General Hammond, standing from his chair, before turning to Senator Kinsey and indicating towards the door, "Senator, shall we?"
Angry, although trying, and only partially succeeding, to hide it, Kinsey stood from his chair, acknowledged the other people in the room with a curt "Gentlemen," before stalking from the room.
Approximately 2 hours later, and the ambassadors together with Colonel Chekov are taking a break from looking over the mission reports. The information enclosed within them, and expanded upon on occasion by Major Davis, have left all of them astounded. Even Colonel Chekov, who is the Russian Liaison officer to the Stargate programme, was not privy to all the information that has now been provided, and was more than a little upset, although ironically he was doing a better job of hiding it than Senator Kinsey did earlier.
At this point, both Colonel Chekov and Ambassador Yang are standing over at the refreshments table, refilling their mugs of coffee and quietly talking, Ambassador Levitte is over at the video screen looking at the design schematics for the X-303 and Ambassador Manning is slowly walking around the room, stretching his legs and absently looking over a folder as he wrote in his notebook. Major Davis had recently left the room to locate General Hammond and Senator Kinsey to inform them that the ambassadors were ready to continue the meeting.
"I do understand your position Mr Ambassador, believe me. For two years now we have been a junior partner in the Stargate Programme, following the lead of the American's."
"The Chinese government will not accept a secondary position so graciously, Colonel. And besides, look at how much they haven't provided or informed you about previously. Can you honestly say that it wouldn't be the same for us going forwards? They'll reap the benefits while we then pay for it."
"There are advantages. Their programme costs them over $7 billion a year at the moment to operate, and that cost is only going to increase. The X-303? The hyperdrive alone has cost them over $2 billion in research and development, and it still doesn't work properly. They will have to spend a lot more money, and risk the lives of their people, to perfect the design. And when they do, we'll get the plans and build our own at a fraction of the price."
At this, the Chinese ambassador let out a snort of amusement. "With what resources? The two main materials used in this ship, and indeed the X-302's, are not found on Earth, and the only way of accessing it is through the Stargate. Plus, according to the reports, they are struggling to produce enough of the materials to build the prototypes, let alone enough to build a fleet of them."
Before Colonel Chekov could answer, the doors to the room opened and Senator Kinsey entered, swiftly followed by General Hammond and Major Davis. Just before everyone moved back over to the conference table, Colonel Chekov quietly finished with "You could have the same deal Mr Ambassador. Just think about it."
Senator Kinsey took a moment to look around the room and attempt to judge the mood of the various ambassadors before restarting the briefing. Unfortunately, it appeared as though none of the ambassadors were either visibly hostile towards Hammond and Davis, which he had hoped for, or seemingly willing to consider his proposal for the NID to take over the SGC. Silently he cursed the fact that he was "politely" excused from the room while Davis had been allowed to remain. No doubt he had spent the majority of the time disparaging both Kinsey and the NID. None-the-less, Kinsey considered himself a consummate politician and felt that he could still gain some control over the meeting, especially as he had just spent the past 2 hours gathering as much evidence as he could regarding the SGC's incompetence with which to completely out-manoeuvre and out-argue Hammond and Davis.
"Now, where were we?"
Before he could start, General Hammond spoke up, looking at each of the ambassadors, and Colonel Chekov, in turn. "Gentlemen, I realise we're in no position to make demands here. We're trying to reach a consensus. But before you go back to your leaders and make your recommendations I want you to consider something. Whoever is running the Stargate will be acting as representatives of this planet throughout the galaxy. They will be our ambassadors. Meeting other races, establishing ties with other worlds. It is true that in the six years we've been running the Stargate we've made enemies, but we've also made friends. I believe we've acquitted ourselves with honour. On that score I stand by the record."
"The record General? Well, if you want to stand by your record, I'm sure you won't mind us reviewing it in a bit more detail, would you?"
"I'm sorry Senator, I'm not entirely sure what you are meaning?"
"I'm referring to the numerous times the actions of your personnel, and your command as a whole, have brought this planet to the brink of destruction." Here Senator Kinsey took several large folders out of his briefcase and held them up. As he did so, the ambassadors looked at him, and the folders he held, with interest. "I have here multiple reports, written by you and your personnel, each referring to an incident where you avoided disaster by the skin of your teeth, even when all indications were there prior to the incident. Reports which I seriously doubt you included in your briefing material here today. What do you say General, Gentlemen? Shall we review these reports and then see what the record shows?"
Before anyone could even so much as move, a bright light suddenly filled the room, accompanied by a musical, ringing tone. As both faded, almost everyone around the table were shocked to see that another chair had appeared at the front of the table, between it and the video screen, with, what the ambassadors were able to recognise from the briefing, an Asgard sitting in it. Although they all recognised the being, and knew that it was likely an ally, the three ambassadors couldn't help but feel both a little nervous and excited at the same time. After-all, it was their first encounter with an alien, and all the briefing materials in the world couldn't help prepare them for that.
Eventually, Ambassador Manning was the first to be able to find his voice. "Hello."
"Greetings. I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet."
"Thank you for coming Thor."
"It is my pleasure General Hammond. The Asgard are in your debt." Still apparently being the only ambassador to regain his voice, Ambassador Manning asked what Thor meant by this. "Sg-1, under the command of General Hammond, have saved my people and yours on many occasions. We are not only allies against the Goa'uld, we are true friends."
At this, feeling as though the meeting was slipping away from him, Senator Kinsey stood. "Commander Thor, my name is—" Before he could continue, Supreme Commander Thor interrupted him.
"Senator Kinsey. Yes, I am aware of who you are. O'Neill has suggested I send you to a distant planet for your actions here, but I am reasonably certain his statement was in jest."
Slightly worried, but hiding it with a small laugh. "I'm sure it was Commander." As he said this, he raised his hand, finger extended, to emphasise what he was about to say. However, once again Supreme Commander Thor interrupted him, also raising his hand, finger extended, in what was clearly meant to be a mocking action. At this, several people had to really fight in an attempt to not show the mirth that they were feeling on their face, including Ambassador Yang, to whom Senator Kinsey had not endeared himself to. To him, no matter what your personal feelings were and what issues there were, when faced with outsiders, as he and the other ambassadors were, you showed a strong, united front, rather than the infighting and undermining he had attempted to instigate on numerous occasions.
"Supreme Commander. It is the opinion of the Asgard High Council that Stargate Command should be left in the very capable hands of General Hammond and his team. And while our continued friendship with Earth is not contingent on that, it is preferred."
At this, it appeared as though Ambassador Levitte had finally regained his voice. "You came all this way, just to tell us that?"
"And to install Asgard designed shields and weapons on Prometheus. A small token of thanks for SG-1's recent efforts in securing our galaxy, and yours, from certain destruction."
At this, Ambassador Yang stood up. "Forgive me Supreme Commander, but it seems to me as though you are providing the the SGC, and by extension the United States, with even more advanced technology than what they currently have and have supposedly promised to share with our nations. Does this mean that this technology will also be shared with us, or is it exclusively for the Prometheus, thus ensuring that the United States has an advantage over us still?"
"And does this not invalidate the Protected Planets Treaty?" Enquired Colonel Chekov, "I was under the belief that you were not able to provide any means of advancing any protected planet's technology without invalidating the Treaty?"
At this, General Hammond spoke up, both to reassure the ambassadors and the Colonel, but also to prevent an argument breaking out. "Ambassador Yang, Colonel, the weapons and shields that Supreme Commander Thor is providing are not truly Asgard designed systems. They are merely a more refined and evolved version that we were developing anyway. They will of course be provided to your countries together with all the other technology that we have been able to develop."
Further soothing any ruffled nerves, Thor concluded, "With regards to the Protected Planets Treaty. At this time we unfortunately are unable to enforce it as strongly as we would like, and in light of at least one recent Goa'uld attack on your world, through the use of a Naquadah Asteroid, the Asgard High Council felt that it was necessary to ensure the continued protection of this world. We are also hoping that eventually, you would be able to take our place as the protector of these worlds, and this is a good step towards that."
At this proclamation, everyone was shocked. Even General Hammond, who had known of some of this, was astounded at what Thor had just revealed. It took almost half a minute before a sound was heard in the room again, with the clearing of a throat from the British Ambassador.
"I see. Supreme Commander, if I may, I believe my colleagues and I would like some clarification on an incident we've been informed about regarding thefts of technology from both you and, erm . . . " Here he looked down at a report which lay open on the desk in front of him in order to double-check the name "The Tollan."
"Of course. How may I provide assistance?"
"From the report, it was the NID, or more accurately a rogue section of the NID, that was responsible, however it says that both you and the Tollan were very close to cutting off all contact with Earth due to their actions. Why did you choose to let General Hammond's command track down the thieves and deal with them rather than simply cutting off ties with them and dealing with the thieves yourselves?"
Thor paused for a few seconds, considering his answer, before replying.
"General Hammond and SG-1 have proven themselves honourable on multiple occasions, both with my race, and with others. I see great promise for your race through them and their actions. However, the majority of members of the Asgard High Council and the Tollan Curia felt that Earth could not be trusted anymore due to this. It was the combined effort of myself and Omoc and Narim of the Tollan that allowed the SGC the chance to redeem Earth's reputation."
"Thank you Supreme Commander. That was helpful."
"I hope I have been successful in convincing you. Good day, General Hammond."
"Always a pleasure, Thor. Please drop in any time."
With that, the room was once again filled with a bright, almost blinding light and a musical tone for a few seconds, before it faded, showing that Thor and his chair had vanished.
"Well," Started Ambassador Levitte, "It has certainly been an interesting meeting."
At that, the seriousness and awkwardness, apparent in the room ever since Thor had first arrive, broke, with various people letting out little chuckles.
"Jean-David, I would dare to say that statement was almost British in it's understatement." Remarked Ambassador Manning, "But in all seriousness, I don't think there is any more we can do here today gentlemen. I believe that all of us should return to our governments and inform them. Let them take the next step."
"Sir David is correct." This from Ambassador Yang. "Until our government's are informed, I do not believe that we can go any further. General, although I do not agree with much of what has been revealed here, I truly believe that you have done the best that you could under the circumstances. I can't guarantee that they'll listen, but I will recommend to Beijing that you and your command remain in control over the Stargate, at least for the time being."
Both Ambassador Manning and Ambassador Levitte nodded at this, with Colonel Chekov adding, "I already know my government is satisfied with Stargate Command as it is, although I will warn you, they will not be happy with the amount of information that has been kept from us, especially with the agreements we had in place prior to this." At this, both General Hammond and Major Davis winced slight, but before they could speak up and defend those actions, Colonel Chekov held up his hand, "I know it was not the decision of the SGC, but that of your government, and that would likely have been the same no matter which organisation was in control of the Gate. In fact, with someone else in control, we may well have been given far less than what we were."
Although he didn't say it, everyone could see that he was implying the NID when he said that last part, especially as he was looking at Senator Kinsey while he was talking.
At that, and seeing that no one in the room was on his side, Senator Kinsey stood up, grabbed his briefcase and the files sitting in front of him before storming from the room, scowling angrily.
As he did so, everyone still in the room merely watched him leave, with Sir David waiting until the doors had closed behind him before remarking, "You know Colonel, I think it was something you said."
At this, whatever tension left in the room vanished as everyone enjoyed a quiet laugh while gathering up the documents necessary to provide the proof to their governments when they informed them.
A/N: And so we finally reach the end of this chapter covering the Disclosure episode. It's a pretty epic one, reaching over 8000 words, not including A/Ns.
In S4E15 "Chain Reaction", referenced here by Hammond, the NID essentially made him resign by threatening his granddaughters. O'Neill teamed up with Maybourne (he was an ass, but I still liked him best out of the "rogue" NID characters) and found out that Kinsey was behind the threats, and got proof. Why the hell that proof wasn't used to end Kinsey's career and bury him, certainly with regards to the Stargate, I will never know. It essentially went forgotten about until "Inauguration" and wasn't used until "Lost City" by Henry Hayes to fire Kinsey.
Even though he didn't really need Thor's help here, I had General Hammond request him, as in OTL, purely for the verbal smackdown he gives Kinsey. It was, and always will be, too epic to not include in any version of the Disclosure episode.
So, due to General Hammond and Major Davis being a lot more prepared in this than they were in the original episode, they have been able to avoid being blind-sided by Kinsey the majority of the time, especially refusing to get into arguments about the SGC and it's competence (or lack thereof according to Kinsey). This led to Kinsey coming across to the ambassadors as a bitter, immature man, trying every underhanded trick in the book to take control over the meeting and steer it his way, with General Hammond and Major Davis coming across as the more believable, confident ones.
As such, the ambassadors are far less likely to be willing to listen to Kinsey and his claims, especially with the evidence there in front of them, rather than simply being given the very twisted and slanted views on the various incidents presented by Kinsey as in the episode.