Excerpt from AAR debriefing for Operation Reclamation, audio recorded testimony of Martin Walker, Captain, U.S. Army, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta, timestamp: 12/20/2012, 0255 hours local time)
*Walker is silent, smoking his cigarette, Debriefer speaks*
"You made contact with the 33rd at that point?"
"Yeah. It was a good call to try preventative diplomacy instead of shooting first and asking questions later. I kinda knew something was off when we encountered locals who were shooting guns."
*Here Walker pauses and takes a drag from his cigarette*
"Seeing a US Army helicopter covered in dragon scales was a head-trip, but it was seein' Lt. McPherson, wearing his ACU's as if nothing was wrong, in the middle of that medieval fortress, it just made everything crazier...An' that wasn't the only bombshell that he dropped. But it was the first.
*Walker stubs out his cigarette*
"The Damned 33rd was not only alive and well, but operating in this Gate world, which was called Westeros, and they were allied with at least one faction in a nationwide civil war. Oh yeah, an' that's also where we first confirmed that dragons existed in that world, but that comes later..."
*Debriefer speaks*
"Yeah, we heard the reports."
*He pauses and flips through some AAR papers, pausing on an overhead drone photo, and points to it*
"And what's this...Ice Zombies?"
*Walker chuckles*
"Yeah. We thought they were a joke, too. But they're no joke, let me tell you. An' much harder to kill than in the movies...anyways, we found ourselves coming into this world, a world where the 33rd had been operating for God knows how long, and more importantly the CIA was there trying to undermine the 33rd's efforts, on the tail end of a civil war that the 33rd sort of started, and definitely finished...An' like I said, that wasn't the half of it..."
"Gentlemen, welcome to Westeros."
Lt. McPherson finished, then gestured to the young lady seated beside him.
"And this is Sansa Stark, Lady of Winterfell and presumed heir to the mantle of Queen of the North."
Walker glanced over at the young woman, and got a good look at her. She was young, if she was twenty it was only just barely, except for her eyes. Her grey eyes were that of an old woman, cold, careworn and stern, like someone who had seen and experienced too much for her years. She gave a slight nod to Walker, who turned his attention back to McPherson.
"And I have to say, your timing is impeccable, sir."
The Delta Force captain nodded uncertainly.
"Yeah...the big guy back outside the wire said the same thing...Lieutenant, why didn't the colonel make contact with the outside world until now?"
Lt. McPherson smiled thinly.
"You don't think we wanted to? After the first few months when it became clear that we were in over our heads we tried. But the Gate closed."
The young officer lowered his eyes.
"An' after that, well, time kinda lost meaning. Then the Gate opened back up a couple of weeks ago, an' we decided it was time to act. Like I said, timing is perfect."
Walker opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the door opening. He turned, and saw the same large man with the red beard, who grinned at Walker.
"Ah, so you found your own kind, Walker! Good!"
The large man looked past Walker to address McPherson.
"See? I told you that I would find the Outsiders!"
The young officer smirked.
"Yeah, whatever. Whatever Lord Snow told you is BS, I wanted you to go on that scouting mission so I'd be granted a respite from your incessant bragging."
McPherson glanced over to Captain Walker.
"I see that you've already met Tormund Giantsbane. Honestly I'm shocked that you survived first contact."
The large man named Tormund grinned, showing rotten teeth.
"You forget, Loo-tenant McPherson that you barely survived first contact with the Free Folk, and that was with our women..."
His voice trailed off as he looked past the young officer, seeing the cold glare that Sansa was giving him.
"Ah...Lady Sansa, my apologies. Lord Snow wanted me to inform you that the delegation from Bear Island has arrived."
Sansa said nothing, but gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. McPherson spoke up.
"Roger that, I'll take that as my cue..."
He looked over to the Delta Force Captain.
"Captain Walker, if you'll come with me I can explain more about what happened to the Damned 33rd..."
He was interrupted by a soft cough. Both Walker and McPherson paused and glanced over to the source of the noise, Lady Sansa was looking directly at Lt. McPherson.
"I don't believe I gave you leave to depart, Ser McPherson."
To his credit, Lt. McPherson held the woman's cold gaze. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, until the spell was broken by the large man named Tormund bursting into raucous laughter.
"Hah! McPherson, I told you, I told you didn't I?"
For a moment the Delta Force captain wondered what the hell was going on until he noticed Lady Sansa. She was smiling, and with that smile her entire demeanor completely changed. Her blue eyes were alit with mischievous wit, and she looked more like a maiden sharing a joke than the steely nobleman from just a few minutes before. Lt. McPherson ignored Tormund's jibe and raised his eyebrows at Sansa.
"Ser McPherson? Really Sansa?"
Lady Sansa stood up, still chuckling as she approached McPherson.
"You almost fell for my jape, John. Admit it."
Lt. McPherson shook his head, still laughing.
"Yeah, well I still gotta split before Little Miss Sunshine shows up."
She smiled, removing one of her leather gloves from her right hand as she approached the young officer.
"That's not a nice thing to say about Lyanna Mormont."
Lt. McPherson smiled at her, but then suddenly flushed as if he remembered the presence of Walker and his squad. Tormund was grinning and nudging Sgt. Lugo as if he were privy to some private joke. Sansa reached out and took McPherson's hand in hers.
"A moment before you go, Lt. McPherson, please."
She shifted her gaze from the young 33rd officer to Walker, and for some reason he responded almost automatically.
"Uh...sure, we'll just ah...wait outside."
He motioned for Sgt. Lugo and Lt. Adams to follow. Lt. McPherson nodded at Walker.
"Be right out, gents."
He locked eyes with Tormund.
"That means you too, big guy."
The red-bearded giant grinned and followed the trio of Delta Force operators out of the room. When the double doors shut, Ser Rodrick respectfully took a few steps back into one of the darkened alcoves of the hall. The young lieutenant grinned at Sansa.
"So...do you like the new haircut?"
Lady Sansa smiled as she reached up and caressed Lt. McPherson's cheek.
"The Maesters said that you were going to shave off your beard and hair after hearing of your own bannermen from Outside arrive."
Her grey-blue eyes grew bright.
"You look almost exactly the same as you did back then..."
McPherson's face lit up as the memory came back.
"Oh yeah...back when we first came through the Gate. I remember the colonel told us we made first contact with the locals..."
His smile faded and his own eyes took on a faraway look.
"Konrad introduced me to your dad and Jon...Then me an' his command squad met the entire Stark household at Winterfell...seems like only yesterday..."
His eyes refocused on her and he grinned again.
"Of course, back then you were still just a kid...amazing what time can do..."
Lady Sansa's smooth features creased into a frown of mock annoyance.
"Really! And I remember you were a stuck-up Outworlder wearing odd clothes and talking funny."
"I? We talk funny? Let's get one thing straight, sweetheart, I-"
The rest of Lt. McPherson's clever retort was cut off by Sansa leaning in and kissing him. For a moment the young officer seemed content to kiss her, but then his eyes opened and he pulled away.
"I ah...have to RV with Walker...an' get him in touch with Command, or at least Tyrion...he's got lots of questions..."
He looked down at Sansa.
"An' I know where that kiss is goin' and it's gonna end with both of us being indisposed for at least 30 minutes."
The lady raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Thirty minutes? You give yourself too much credit, John."
McPherson chuckled.
"Yeah, that's how long it'd take me to get you outta that fur cloak ensemble...don't kid yourself."
Sansa giggled at his salacious joke as the young lieutenant glanced over to the door.
"An' I'm pretty sure Lil' Miss Sunshine doesn't like waiting."
He started to leave, but Sansa was still holding onto his sleeve.
"Hurry back, my love."
He gave her his best OTS smile.
"Be back in a jiffy, sweetheart."
With that McPherson pulled open the door and hastily left, trying to tamp down on the fire in his loins. He passed the Bear Island delegation, which included the diminutive surviving member of the Mormont House and her burly bodyguard. The bodyguard stiffened at the sight of the 33rd officer and threw a crisp salute, which McPherson slowly returned. When he passed through a second set of doors that opened to a small courtyard he found Captain Walker and his crew waiting for him.
"What the fuck was all that about?"
McPherson's attention turned to Walker's RTO, a sniper wearing a baseball cap, and his military bearing came back. The lieutenant tersely responded to Lugo.
"Long story, sergeant. An' to answer your question, no it's not just some stupid schoolgirl crush. That gal might look like a shrinking violet, but trust me, she's been through hell and back."
He heard Adams chuckled.
"I think Sgt. Lugo was referring to the weird-ass alliance that the 33rd has with this particular faction of locals, but hey, thanks for the intel on...Lady Sansa was it?"
McPherson shook his head.
"This way, gentleman, I believe you had questions that needed answered."
He pushed through another set of doors that opened up into a larger courtyard. Walker noticed that on the far side of rough-hewn walls were three AHJ-6 'Little Bird' choppers parked. Several men, both in ACU's and in peasant garb, were in the process of performing repairs and rearmaments to the choppers. Walker's attention was pulled back to McPherson as he continued talking.
"...There are rogue elements of the Bolton and Frey bannermen that are roaming the wilds near the Gate, probably should have warned you about that. But I guess we didn't know if the Colonel's transmission was gonna reach anyone."
Adams shifted his M249 on the sling.
"You mean those bad guys that attacked Third Recon were actually bad guys?"
"Yeah...an' for what it's worth you didn't kill too many friendlies so there's that."
He walked past another set of doors, this one guarded by the Northmen.
"Your man...Itami was it? He's recovering from a concussion at our med bay...don't worry we have our own docs."
Inside the doors was what looked like guest quarters, there was a small sitting room with a roaring fireplace and several chairs. In one of the chairs was a lanky man sporting a scraggly beard and was cleaning his fingernails with a long knife. The man gave a small nod to McPherson, who continued.
"...as for the rest of your questions, I can't answer them, seeing as I'm going to be busy..."
Lugo chuckled.
"You mean gettin' busy, sir?"
McPherson grinned at Walker.
"You Delta Boy types really are a buncha undisciplined cowboys...didn't you teach your subordinates to respect the rank?"
Walker chuckled.
"Yeah, what can I say...we're just undisciplined."
A voice spoke up from the chair opposite the knife-wielder, which up until that moment Walker thought was unoccupied.
"Perish the thought of me keeping you from your beloved, Ser McPherson."
The chair's occupant sat forward, revealing a dwarf with dirty blonde hair. He smiled at the 33rd officer.
"Off you go. You don't want to keep a lady waiting, ser."
McPherson smiled and shook his head, but said nothing as he turned and left. The dwarf stood up out of his chair and waddled over to a low table where a pitcher and several goblets were.
"Would you gentlemen care for a drink? No? I guessed not."
The dwarf poured some dark red liquid into a goblet.
"Your Lewtenant McPherson didn't care to drink the first time I met him either. It must be a thing with you Outworlders."
He took a drink, then continued.
"I am Tyrion Lannister, and I understand you have some questions that need answering."
Before Walker could speak, Lugo piped up.
"What the fuck is the CIA doing here? An' how long has the 33rd been here and what have they been up to?"
Tyrion took another sip of his drink and smiled thinly. He slowly made his way back to his chair and sat down.
"For the matter about the CIA, you will have to ask Grey Fox himself, it is a complicated thing. But in regards to what the Damned 33rd have been up to since they arrived here, well, that I can tell you about..."
The dwarf looked down at his goblet.
"I am here to help the Starks, and by that extension the 33rd, survive their next crucible, which may involve your untimely death, and mine, too. But then again, I don't mind, after all..."
Walker saw the scraggly-bearded man roll his eyes.
"...A Lannister always pays his debts..."
He smiled at his own private joke, then noticed neither Walker nor his companions caught on.
"I'm sorry, I forget that you gentlemen have just arrived here. So, take a seat and get comfortable, Captain Walker, and I will tell you a tale about the 33rd arrival in Westeros. I was there, you know..."
Walker, Lugo and Adams all took seats around the fire and listened as Tyrion continued.
"I was there when King Robert Baratheon was introduced to Colonel Konrad and the Damned 33rd. Outworlders, they were called. Wondrous machines that baffled maesters and weapons of war that we could only dream of. At the time I wondered why they were called the Damned..."
He finished his goblet of wine and made a face.
"Well, your Konrad and his Damned 33rd certainly lived up to their name..."
(AN: So the next few chapters are basically going to be told in flashbacks by various characters, in this case the next chapter will be the 33rd first coming to Westeros and looking for survivors, their interactions with King Robert and his entourage at Winterfell, as told from the perspective of Tyrion Lannister. Hopefully it's coalescing together. I hope to get at least one chapter out per month, this chapter was about 60% done so I got it out quicker. The next chapter will be done by the end of May, *fingers crossed*
Well see how you guys like it. If there is continued interest, I'll keep posting chapters.)
