Stargate: Modern Warfare

by Elgin

On the front lines of Earth's shadow war with the Goa'uld is Stargate Command. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of their depth. Routinely facing aliens and myths the likes of which they were never trained for. All while most of their homeworld's inhabitants live their lives none the wiser to the deeds done in their name. Such is the nature of modern warfare.

2. Chapter 2

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Stargate: Modern Warfare

Prologue 2

The British Are Coming

Major Samantha 'Sam' Carter

USAF SOC – SG-1

Tuesday 7th March 2000

Main Briefing Room, Stargate Command

US Air Force Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado

As the last of the SGC's senior officers and civilian consultants filed into the room, Major General George S. Hammond cleared his throat. The dull hubbub of conversation immediately died away, as Hammond was awarded the full attention of his command staff.

"At oh-nine-hundred hours local time, I received orders from the President concerning the future operations of Stargate Command," Hammond began.

If the room had been quiet before, then by now a pin-drop would have sounded like an artillery barrage.

"Four months ago, Thor's ship, the Beliskner, burned up over the North Atlantic Ocean," Hammond continued. "One of the Replicators aboard the Beliskner survived and boarded a British submarine – HMS Sceptre – then murdered her crew before it began to replicate. Fortunately, SG-1 and the US Navy were able to destroy the Sceptre and all of the Replicators aboard her before the Replicators could spread any further.

"While searching for the Sceptre, Royal Navy recovery teams found the Giza Stargate on the seabed and recovered it; UK Special Forces subsequently initiated a Stargate program of their own, codenamed 'Project Excalibur'. To control the Giza Stargate, they used a Dial Home Device that British troops captured from the Afrika Korps in the summer of 1941 – we now believe that this must have been the original DHD from Giza.

"Project Excalibur was very successful, and we were oblivious to its existence – as indeed Excalibur were none the wiser to the SGC's – until last week, when SG-1 accidentally 'Gated back to Project Excalibur's base instead of the SGC; they then embarked on a successful joint operation with Project Excalibur to rescue Master Bra'tac from Apophis's forces. Since then, the President has been negotiating with the British prime minister… and as of last night, those negotiations have come to a successful conclusion."

"Are we getting the Giza 'Gate back, sir?" Colonel Jack O'Neill asked.

Hammond shook his head. "No, Colonel, we aren't," he replied. "Legally speaking, it was open salvage; the case really is that simple."

"Ah, crap…" Jack quietly groaned.

Hammond chose to ignore that comment. "Understandably, the British aren't willing to give up access to the Stargate Network – they've already fought the armies of the System Lords several times and won, and they've even captured a couple of Tel'taks and brought them back to Earth for study. However, they agree that it would be scientifically impractical for two Stargate programs to be simultaneously run on the same planet; in consequence, the British have agreed to mothball their Stargate and Project Excalibur, in exchange for which the President has agreed to allow them to deploy an SAS unit to the SGC to conduct offworld operations."

That last announcement provoked an outburst of noisy discussion from the briefing room's other occupants; some dismayed and some excited, some curious and some confused as to what all the fuss was about.

"People…" Hammond said in a calm and no-nonsense tone of voice, which immediately quietened the room down again. "I understand that this will be new for all of us, but the President believes – a belief that I happen to share – that this is a reasonable compromise; and it's a compromise that Prime Minister Hacker suggested without any prompting from our side of the table, I might add.

"Now, the SAS soldiers in question have been assigned to Project Excalibur since its inception three and a half months ago; they're already very experienced at fighting the Goa'uld and their forces, and have plenty of operational experience from their campaigns on Earth against various human threats. To integrate them into the SGC's existing command structure, they'll become our new SG-14; I've conferred with Brigadier Docherty – my counterpart at Project Excalibur – and they agreed to the idea."

"Who'll lead the British team, sir?" Jack spoke up.

Hammond consulted his notes. "A Captain Price will be commanding SG-14, just as soon as they arrive here this afternoon."

Jack froze, looking shocked. "Price?" he asked faintly.

Hammond nodded, puzzled. "Yes – Captain John Price, 22nd Special Air Service, British Army."

"Oh, boy," Sam muttered.

"Well, this oughta be interesting…" Daniel mused aloud.

Teal'c nodded impassively. "Mm. Indeed."

"Is this going to be a problem, Colonel?" Hammond asked, feeling a little impatient.

Jack nodded vigorously. "Yes, sir; but mostly for the Goa'uld… and the NID… and whatever other bad guys out there that we happen to tangle with."

"Captain Price is a most capable warrior and leader of warriors…" Teal'c began, then paused uncertainly.

"But he's, um…" Daniel helpfully added, then shot an imploring glance at Sam.

"I guess you could say that he's a little bit eccentric, sir," Sam offered.

"'Eccentric'? More like he's completely nuts," Jack bluntly corrected her. "He's crazy enough that he'd take on every single System Lord at once if the opportunity presented itself – and the scary part is, he might actually win if he ever tried."

"And, sir, we're really going to need to establish some designated smoking areas on the base," Sam said helpfully.

"Why would we need to do that?" Hammond asked, bemused.

"He's very fond of his cigars; won't go anywhere without them."

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