Everything is Fair in Love and War

Chapter 8 - Introductions

0834 October 16 1997 [Local Calendar]
Cheyenne Mountain, Stargate Command (SGC)
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

While Jack was gathering his team, my team was sat along one side of the conference table with General Hammond. "Stargate Command is the first and last line of defense in a conflict that you don't know about." The Texan began, grasping his hands loosely together on the table. He nodded to an airman who was standing in the corner next to a spiral staircase and the man pressed a big red button.
My team and I had to turn around to look through the windows into the now exposed room. The room itself was large, gray concrete dominated the color scheme. The main standout thing was the massive ring that was almost seven meters in diameter leading up to it was a steel grate ramp with guard rails on the side. At the bottom of the ramp in flanking positions was a pair of large caliber turrets aimed at it.
"We call it the Stargate. It allows us to explore this galaxy from right here, if you want a more detailed explanation you'll have to ask Captain Carter when she arrives. It was found on an archaeological dig in Giza, Egypt in 1939. After a single mission in 1994 the Gate was put in storage and was all but forgotten about, that is until earlier this year when several men came through the gate, killed four airmen, and abducted a fifth." The General explained, gesturing for us to sit back down. Once we were in our seats he continued. "Since then we have had nine teams of four members each put together for the purpose of exploring and collecting technology." At that moment four people walked into the room.
The first was Colonel O'Niell, who we had already met. The second was a woman who had blonde hair that was in a pixie cut with Captain's bars. Third was a slightly scrawny man with messy brown hair and glasses, everything about him screamed civilian. The final one was a mountain of a man with dark skin, no hair, and a golden emblem embedded into his forehead.
"This is our flagship team: SG-1. Moving forward your team will be designated as SG-10." The General concluded.
Jack stepped forward to introduce his team. "Alright kids, you know me, this is Captain Carter our tech guru, Dr. Daniel Jackson who has a PhD in archaeology and is the one who figured out how to open the Gate, and finally Teal'c. He was the highest ranking soldier for Apophis but betrayed him and decided to help the good guys."
"Apophis? As in the Egyptian god of snakes and the moon?" Seni asked, causing Daniel to give her a wide eyed look and send his eyebrows into his hairline.
"Well, yes actually. Are you familiar with mythology?" The academic asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.
"Growing up I was limited on my choices of literature." The SPARTAN began, causing me to start to panic about what she was going to say. Fuck, I never really explained what not to say. Unaware of my inner turmoil, the woman continued. "Most of my reading material was dedicated to military tactics and methods of enemy analysis. The main outlier in this was mythology as we would use any battle setup to test ourselves in strategic planning."
To my relief, this was both entirely accurate and yet very misleading. "So what does an ancient deity have to do with this?" I ask, trying to get our conversation back on track.
"Well you see, our main opponent out there is a parasitic race known as the Goa'uld. They're snake-like and have the ability to dominate the body of anyone that they infest." Jackson explains, gaining a sad look on his face. After a moment he regathered himself and continued. "We believe that in the ancient past they came here and took humans as hosts before adopting the names of the gods from their parts of the Earth. We killed Ra on our first mission in 1994 and we have been dealing with Apophis since he and his Jaffa came through the gate a few months ago." He paused at our confused looks, mine being faked.
Before he could explain, Teal'c spoke. "The Jaffa were once humans but we were genetically modified in the past to turn us into incubators for larval Goa'uld." He spoke with very little inflection. "They were then indoctrinated into believing that their entire existence was to be the sword of their gods, and became the warrior caste and enforcers for the false gods."
Nodding, I sit back down, seemingly content. The Colonel choked on a breath he'd been taking in but didn't need. "What? No questions? No inquisition about his loyalty? Nothing?"
"No." I respond with a flat look. "You can see the distaste he has for them in his eyes, those are the eyes of a man looking to repent for the evils that he's committed." Teal'c raised an eyebrow at my words before he inclined his head to me in acknowledgment.
"Huh?" Jack said looking stumped. "This isn't how things normally go." He sat back in his seat looking almost sad that he wasn't able to defend his friend's honor.
Hammond took a breath before reasserting control of the conversation. "While it is nice that someone trusts our judgment on Teal'c, I believe that it's time that you clarify a few things Commander." He said passing the torch to me.
Giving him an acknowledging nod, I stand. "First, I suppose some introductions are in order. I am Commander Frederic Drake. To my left are Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan, Lieutenant Junior Grade Seni Noble, and Master Chief Petty Officer Joan Gray." Each woman gave a nod at their name and then the room's attention returned to me. "Everything else I have to say is classified, can we clear the room General?" I ask the man.
He quickly nodded and turned to the two airmen standing against the far wall and gave a one word order. "Dismissed."
Once the room was empty except for my team, SG-1, and General Hammond I resumed my explanation. "Now, for the sake of formality: anything said here cannot leave this room as it's both highly classified and highly personal." Getting nods from across the table I continue. "Okay, six years ago the US Navy Special Warfare instituted two programs in conjunction with the CIA, these programs were code named ORIAN and GHOST. The purpose of these programs was experimental research into human augmentation. All participants were volunteers who were selected from a relatively small group." The looks he was getting from most of SG-1 and General Hammond were rather interesting somewhere between awe and disgust, except for Teal'c. He was as stoic as ever. "After several different kinds of augmentations, and many dead soldiers, the programs were deemed a failure. Between the two programs there were nearly 200 deaths, and only four survivors."
Watching the look of horror on their faces as they came to the point I was leading them to was both entertaining at how easy it seemed and unsettling for the same reason. "So wait." Jack said, injecting himself into the silence I had allowed to linger after my reveal. "You're all what? Super-soldiers? Like Captain America?" Daniel gave him a very unimpressed look at his lack of tact.
"No, myself, Lieutenant Noble, and the Chief I suppose are what you could call super-soldiers. We have heightened bone and muscle density, faster reflexes, etcetera. Lieutenant Kerrigan on the other hand was part of project GHOST, her augments allow for superior fine motor control, faster reflexes, and a far higher than average level of dexterity." At their confused looks I explained. Project ORIAN was the Navy's program, aiming to create the next generation of special forces, project GHOST on the other hand was the CIA's. Their goal was to create black ops units. Deep cover, assassination, wet work, any dirty job was to be given to them. When it was discovered how many were dead in that program, NAV SPEC WAR secreted her away so that she wasn't dissected by the spooks so that they could figure out why she was the only one to survive. Since then she was assigned to our team partially because we all went through similar... training, but mainly because we are her security detail. SECNAV decided 'who better to guard a super-assassin than a team of super-soldiers?'" I explain, getting a smirk from both Jack and the General. "And so here we are. My only guess as to why we were assigned to your command General, was to hide us. Even the CIA is cautious around the amount of high level scrutiny something of this importance has."
The room was silent for a moment as I sat down to wait. After several long minutes of taking that all in, General Hammond spoke. "Well, regardless of the reasons for you being here, welcome. I can assure you that I stand by my people to the very end. Now, Captain Carter?" He turned to the only woman on the other side of the table. "Could you escort SG-10 to the infirmary for a physical?"
The woman stood and gave a brief salute before gesturing for us to follow her down the switchback stairs that were on the far side of the room from the windows into the Gate room. After we stood and offered our own salutes, we followed her down the stairs, through the control room, and down the hall before we finally arrived at the infirmary.
———
"So, what do you think?" General Hammond asked the three men sitting at the table with him.
"I don't know General." Jack started, leaning back in his chair. "When we spoke on the way down, he never spoke like any sailor I've ever met. Oh he is definitely military I have no doubt about that, the way he walks and talks just screams it, but it feels more like Army than Navy."
Daniel sat forward looking at him. "What do you mean? Is there really that much of a difference?"
The General cut in before Jack was able to explain himself. "Navy personnel have a tendency to take slightly larger than average steps to account for stepping through bulkheads on ships. Most don't notice it, but Jack is a trained sniper, part of that training was being able to read into people from a distance."
Daniel widened his eyes as he looked back at his friend. "Really? What do you see from me?"
"Are you sure you want me to answer that?"
Before the bickering really started going, the last member of SG-1 spoke. "General Hammond, I believe that the story we heard was not the truth. I have seen the way warriors react to pointless deaths, like those that he described, however his reaction to the retelling of his story did not have any kind of emotional response from Commander Drake or the others in his team. I also observed that while the Commander would react to things such as the explanation of the Jaffa, his reactions were... strange."
"What do you mean, Teal'c?" Hammond asked with his southern drawl.
"While the others gave appropriate mistrust at my status and species, he barely flinched. Were this not the first time that he had set foot within the mountain, I would have thought that he already knew about us." The Jaffa explained.
"So? What? Do we have a leak? Is he from the future? I mean, this program is full of some crazy stuff, but I think that time travel might be a bit exaggerated." Jack butted in.
"Well, there is a potential way to test our time travel theory..." Jackson led, getting everyone's attention. "Okay, as I see it there's a few possibilities: first and most likely, we have a leak, in which case we have to find it and plug it. Second they are time travelers who are here to help, if so they might not know the exact date in relation to events. Third and perhaps least likely he's just a sociopath, I'm sure that military psychological tests would have picked up on that and disqualified him."
Hammond nodded. "So disregarding the third option, what do you recommend for a test?"
"I can go talk to them, as I'm a civilian they're more likely to assume my talking with them is just about trying to get to know them and that me talking about previous missions is a lack of operational security. If it's a leak, odds are pretty good that he will recognize it but not say anything, if he's a time traveler then he'd probably make a very specific reference or recommendation to try to prevent something or make sure something happens. Or at least that's what I would do if I were to go back, like suggesting that we take Sha're with us to the cartouche room rather than leaving her behind." He said, having obviously been dwelling on this.
The General looked at his clasped hands for a moment before looking at the archeologist and nodding. "Very well Dr. Jackson. You are to speak with SG-10 and determine what they know. Dismissed."
———
I was standing against the wall in the infirmary waiting for the girls to be done with their check ups so we could get quarters assigned to us when Daniel walked in and spotted me.
"Hey, Commander Drake. It's a pleasure to meet you privately, I'm Dr. Jackson." He introduced himself, offering me his hand to shake. "I try to make it a habit to get to know everyone around the SGC."
Taking his offered hand with a shake I smile. "Please Doctor, call me Fred. It's a pleasure to meet you too, I was actually hoping to pick your brain a bit." I say before withdrawing my hand.
"Call me Daniel then, what can I do for you?"
"I wanted to get a feel for how the missions are, what kind of nonsensical scenarios are we getting into?" I ask, eliciting a chuckle from the man.
"Well where do I start?" He asked, cupping his chin. "We've dealt with civilizations that have maintained their culture since as far back as the Bronze Age." Broca Divide. "We had SG-9s team leader go crazy and gain a god complex, that was fun." The First Commandment. "Jack came into contact with a crystalline lifeform that was able to take his shape." Cold Lazarus. "He also got artificially aged up to about 100 years old." A Brief Candle? Wasn't The Nox next? "Teal'c and Jack both got teleported into a prison for Goa'uld." Thors Hammer, okay back on track. "We also just recently rescued a man who was lost during one of the earlier experiments with the Gate in the 50's." Torment of Tantalus. "And just a few days ago we went back to Teal'c's homeworld to save his son from a ritual that would enslave him to the Goa'uld." Bloodlines. Then that must mean...
"I assume that those are just the highlights?" I ask, trying to figure out how best to guide him in the right direction.
"Yeah, most of the time we just find mainly barren worlds with nothing but animal life."
"Hmm, interesting. Thank you for your insight, I did have another question that's less to do with Stargate operations as a whole, but it might have something to do with the Goa'uld." I speak, letting communication talent guide my words.
"Really? Go ahead." He said eagerly awaiting my question, too eagerly almost.
"I don't remember the exact text I was reading but I came across a name in a book based on Babylonian myths that seemed to be someone who defied the gods. I thought that it was possible that they could be an ally against the Goa'uld." I say, ignoring his eagerness as it might be seen as odd of me to say that I have a question but didn't ask. "I think the name was Omoroca? Anyway I figured that if you're the linguist, history, and cultural expert you might be able to find some clues about where to find this difier of the gods." I explain before my communication and covert talents start warning me that I've said something I shouldn't have.
His eyes widen briefly before narrowing in thought. "Omoroca? I think I remember reading that somewhere, I'll have to check my library. However I do agree with you that there might be a friendly person or group of people out there just trying to fight the Goa'uld." He said, my face not betraying my knowledge of the Tok'ra. "I'll leave you and your team in the very capable hands of Dr. Fraiser, I really have to look into this." He finished giving a wave and then turning around and leaving in a hurry.
That was odd. I didn't want to invade the privacy of these people by using my psionics to read their minds, most of my childhood was spent idolizing them.
Shrugging my shoulders and filing it under 'Problems to deal with tomorrow', I turn just in time to see my team returning from getting poked and prodded by the good Dr. Fraiser. "How are they Doc?" I ask, pushing off the wall.
"You are all in remarkably good health, we'll have to run a few more tests but as of right now you're all cleared for active duty." The far shorter blonde said to me, flipping through several pages on a clipboard. "I believe that the General wanted you to take a physical fitness test before your team is put on the active mission roster."
"Yes ma'am, I'll keep that in mind." I replied looking up as Carter approached, looking like she wanted to speak. "Thank you Dr. Fraiser, it was a pleasure meeting you. Captain, how can I help you?"
Sam came to attention before replying. "We've gotten rooms set up for you and your team Commander, if you'd follow me please."
"After you, Captain." I say, gesturing her forward. I really don't mind being behind her, even if the off duty uniform isn't very flattering.
Following her to the elevator she takes us up to sub-level 19 and guides us through a couple of circular hallways before she comes to a stop in a T intersection with two doors at either end of the hall and two more set into the wall opposite of the hall that led back the way we came.
"These rooms are assigned to your team, they were meant to be officers quarters, however exceptions were made to allow for your teams unique circumstances." She explained, gesturing at the doors before turning to us. "And before I forget, welcome to Stargate Command."
"Thank you Captain, it's great to be here." I reply with a smile. I don't think there are very many other places I'd rather be.

———

A/n: Okay, and here we go. Some people may make a point about how easily SG-1 was able to deduce that something was up. My response to this is basically explained in the chapter, Teal'c and Jack have probably close to a century of experience between them and a lot of that was spent lying and trying to see through lies. And anyone who tries to tell me that Daniel hasn't replayed the day that Sha're was taken, has never lost someone. There will be more explaining on several inconsistencies next time and mayhaps a confrontation. But until next time...

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