StarGate: Traditions

Characters
Discussion and OOC game discussion

After meeting with Jack O'Neil, Colonel Johnson joined the SGC, and was assigned onto a Stargate Team, SG4.

He worked with two great guys, Mikel and Bragnan, and a bombshell linguist named Susan.. Susan, never Susy..
She was the sort of girl that you had to wonder how she ever made it through Basic training.. Everything about her just seemed to give off niceness- The way she smiled could easily convince anyone to give up their argument, and just smile back.

Things were pretty easy, until she had gotten captured. Most of the time SG4 just spent their hours on standard recon missions.. Photographing wildlife, taking soil samples, and guarding scientists.. Not anything as exciting as SG1.. While they had a few run ins with indigenous peoples, including some hot tempered chineese warparty pointing guns at them, they'd always managed to escape unharmed, and without a firefight. Bragnan called it "The Streak." 21 gates without breaking it so far..

Bragnan was sure they were going to break that streak when Susan was captured.. They were on a planet gathering a set of rocks from a cave entrance that the MALP indicated might contain trace samples of naquida.. Hammond had told them that if they were successfull, they might be able to help build a new band of weapons, enchanced with the stuff. They never had enough to go around..

While they were casing the cave however, and Mikel was joiking about man-eating bats, they heard Susan's muffled screams. That"s when their streak broke.
They chased for a while, following the blood from the fresh bullet wounds, but Susan's captors had knowledge of the terrain, and were faster.. They had radio'ed for Backup, but Mikel insisted in looking while they waited.

He didn't know whether to laugh or scream when they finally found her a few hours later.. Teaching english table settings. It seemed that the captor's wife was quite intrigued by our culture, an enjoyed the formality of it.

It was later that week that all hell broke loose.. The four of them had gone to explore a new planet, P3811X.. As the stepped down from the gate, a team of Jaffa started firing. Susan rushed to start dialing the SGC, while Bragnan, Mikel, and Johnson fired.. Susan punched in each symbol, wishing the gate would dial faster.. She never saw the shot coming.
Mikel Screamed as her body slid off of the DHD.. Grabbing her, he moved to try to sue the DHD as cover. Bragnan just screamed, charging the Jaffa.. Johnsen layed down covering fire, and ordered Bragnan to dial the gate, but he barely seemed to notice. Somehow, Mikel managed to dial the gate, and start dragging Susan through.. Unfortunately, the staff weapon's blast traveled through right after him.
He and Susan were both pronounced dead in the Gateroom.

Bragnan took it hard.. Damn hard.. After the incident, he spend each night just sitting in the infirmary.. He knew, or at least some part of him knew, that his friends were gone, but he just didn't want to let go.. A week later, Hammond brought in someone from Mental Health Services.. With time, he did start to talk again, but he wasn't the same guy.. No jokes, no making fun of the world.. Just bitterness.. As if he blamed the Gate for the incident.. Despite talking with Colonel Johnson, he wouldn't go through it again..

A few days later, Hammond asked Johnson to put together a new team.. SG-14.. There were a number of qualified people who had applied to interview, and many of them were waiting for his word. "We'll do everything we can for him," Hammond had told him, "You have my word on that."

The first of the applicants was a young thing named Ashley Wolfe.. Her file says Ex-NID.. This is going to be fun.
 
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Good morning, Ms. Wolfe.

I'm Colonel Jack Johnson, head of SG-14. It seems that you want to join my team. Why? And before you break out the song and dance about how you're ex-NID, extremely smart, yadda, yadda, yadda; I've read your file. I know what you're capable of. What I want to know is why do you want to join my team? What makes you want to go out there? <motions to the stargate through the window of the conference room>
 

Ashley grins, sitting before the colonel she needed to impress to get onto a Stargate team. She liked him already.

"Sir, I've worked on Goa'uld and Ancient technology for years, and I know I can make a better contribution to the SGC and the country by going out to see it first hand instead of waiting for it to be brought back. I need to go out there, not just because what they have me working on now is boring, but because finding something new out there keeps me up at night. I'm perfect for your team not only because of my technical abilities, knowledge, and experience, but because I'm dedicated to being everything you need me to be in the field. Give me a chance to prove myself and I won't let you down, sir."

She sits back in her chair, watching him intently with a confident grin on her face, knowing that if she doesn't manage to impress Colonel Johnson that she'll find someone else to bring her through the gate, even if it takes years.

OOC: Good to start! Hope no one minds the colors, it's just a little habit I picked up in my first 2 PbP games, and it helps me to follow my posts better. I hope the Silver looks ok on white backgrounds. If anyone prefers, I'll stop it and edit it out. The ball's in your court, reveal.
 
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Colonel Jackson leans back in his chair, taking in the obvious confidence of this young woman. He grins slyly and leans forward.

"Ashley, indigestion keeps me up at night. That's a great technical answer, I'll give you that. But I don't care if your job is boring. I don't care if your technical skills are on par with the greatest minds in the scientific community. What I want to know is why do you want to go out there? What drives you? At the end of the day, what is it that makes you want to drop everything that is important to you and dive through a pool of vertical water to be transferred to a galaxy three billion light years away?

You want me to pick you for my team to show me how you can be 'everything I need you to be.' I don't care how you will be. I care about who you are now.
"

OOC: I like the different colors. Makes it easier to read for me too.
 

The young technician nods, suprised the interview is going down this road, but determined not to show it in her expression. She keeps her mouth shut when he mentiones gating to another galaxy, knowing better than to correct an interviewing officer who was probably just speaking figuratively.

"I want to go out there, sir, because the artifacts I've been working on for the past few years have become a passion of mine. I figured out how to remodel intars to other weapon chassis and worked on the death gliders because I was required to, sure, but I'd have done it even if I wasn't getting payed to do it. I love it, and I have an opportunity to get out there and be the first to see and try new things, and I just can't pass that up.

"Ever since my first time through the gate, I've wanted to go back. I saw things that were incredible, and touched things that hadn't seen human hands in ages. I need that, Colonel, and if I can't convince you to put me on your team, I won't give up. I need a chance to talk to the people that made that technology, that take for granted what blows our minds, and I can't get that here. I can only get that out there," she says, looking out at the Doorway to Heaven with an almost wistful smile.

Looking back, she adds, "Colonel, can you imagine showing a zippo lighter to a caveman? I want to get that feeling every day."

OOC: Hopefully this is more what Colonel Johnson has in mind! And I do hope you know better than the galaxy bit, reveal. She's biting her tongue now, but she will correct him someday. Mark my words!
 
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The Colonel smiles broadly.

"That's more of what I was hoping to hear. I have, what, 42...43 more people to interview?" the Colonel says as he pats his hand on top of a stack of personnel folders.

"Everyone of them has more degrees than I do, is smarter than I am, and is more qualified to be on this team than anyone else on Earth. But you know what most of them lack? A sense of adventure. They get so wrapped up in the technical aspects of the gate that they forget we go out there everyday without the slightest idea of what the hell we'll be up against. Will we come back? Will we meet new friends, new enemies, new....another word for enemies? We don't know. But, you know what? I don't care. And neither should you. Because, when it's all said and done, you know what you'll have besides schematics and new technology? You'll have memories. Memories that will be with you for the rest of your life."

Colonel Johnson looks down and writes some notes in the folder he has open on Ms. Wolfe. He stops and looks up again.

"And, yes, I know what it's like to show a zippo to a caveman. Why do you think I wanted to go to P3K-447?"

The Colonel winks as he says this.

"So what else can you tell me about yourself, Ashley? Family, friends, hobbies? Anything to help me get to know you better as a person, not just as a technician."

OOC: I'm not sure what's wrong with the galaxy part. I can't assume that every planet they go to is in the same galaxy.

EDIT: BTW, it sure is nice to be a player again. I've been DMing for the last year and I really enjoy it but every now I then I like to just play.
 
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"Well, my father is the only immediate family I have," she starts, trying to come up with things to say that isn't in her file. "He used to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, ah, before he joined the N.I.D. That was years ago, though. Sometimes, when he was giving me grief, I'd only refer to him by his rank, and he ended up calling me Lieutenant when I did." She smirks a little, rolling her eyes at her father.
"He's a good man, cares about me a lot, and he's throwing a fit that I'm working for the SGC now. Area 51 was one thing, but he thought I was out of harms way there. I want to be out in the thick of things, and he's not pleased."

She sighs, glancing at the table for a moment before raising her gaze to make eye contact once more. "I don't have many friends, and I think that might cost me some points. There's a few engineers I talk tech with, and I eat with them sometimes, but I don't have any real friends on base or back home. Colonel, when you've graduated highschool at sixteen, the kids your age are intimidated by you and the college kids want nothing to do with you. I had friends from when I was a little kid, but, I moved a few times and we lost touch." She pauses for a brief moment, as if about to elaborate, but changes her subject.
"I've been so busy with my work that I have colleagues, not friends. It's not that I'm not likable, it's just that most of the folks I end up working with are old enough to be my dad, so, I'm sure you can understand their resentment." "Um," she hesitates, searching her mind for something to add. "Oh! I had a cat while I was stationed at Area 51, but I had to send her to live with my father, since there's no pets allowed on base.

"I do have a few hobbies- I'm not all work and no play..." She hesitates, looking for a reaction before she continues, "I have a brown belt in kenpo karate, I use that and yoga to stay in shape, and I still keep limber enough for gymnastics, though I'm awful rusty. I have my bike; modified it myself, and it rides like a dream. I'm alright with a car, but I love riding a motorcycle." She smiles before quietly adding, "fast."
 
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It's 0916 Eastern time...

... and that means TSgt Julian Anderson is late. Again.

Like a thief in the night, he sneaks around corners in the office building that houses the 6th Intelligence Operations Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, domain of his taskmaster CO, Col. George Willingham. Hoping not to be spotted skating in after 9, he continues hiding behind objects as people pass, until he makes it to his desk. Safe at last! He drops heavily into his wheeled task chair, drawing a sidelong glance from the airman at the station next to his. Julian sets the box of doughnuts on the credenza separating his workspace from the airman's, and tosses his keys onto the desk next to a stuffed Pentium guy, the only personal item in his station.

Tearing voraciously into a Bavarian creme and hoping the powdered sugar doesn't drop on his uniform, he turns on his monitor.

.oO(Wonder what's on the menu for today. Survey says...)

Julian logs into the system using his password and crypto key, and views his tasks for today. Seems there's some video of the mountains north of Kabul, Afghanistan that just came in from a UAV, and it needs to be enhanced to search for evidence of Al Qaeda activity. Pulling the video file onto his hard drive from the secure network, he opens up Adobe Premiere.

.oO(Okay, Osama... where's that pretty little turban of yours hiding today?)

Julian rubs his temples, staring at a frame full of sand, and chasing his doughnut with a big gulp of coffee.

.oO(I've gotta stop pulling these all nighters... it's killing me.)

Craning his neck, he looks around for Col. Willingham. Uncharacteristically, his office door is closed. The Colonel has an open-door policy, which in his case means, "If my door is open, I can see that you're slacking off easier". In fact, pretty much the only time he ever closes his door is when somebody is getting chewed (he knows this one from experience) or when there is a visitor in the shop. Glancing over at the unit calendar, he confirms that nobody is scheduled to show up. Something's up, and Julian couldn't be more thrilled.

Willingham didn't see him come in late. He wouldn't lose a stripe after all.
 
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Kemrain said:

Colonel Johnsons smiles as Ashley mentions the motorcycle.

"Remind me to show you my car," he says.

The smile leaves his face. "So, you're an over-achiever who has relied on her intellect to get by. You intimidate others because of your high IQ and prefer to work alone so no one else will get in your way. You don't like authority. You don't like people who hold you back. At least, that's what I gather from your file and what you just said."

The Colonel pauses as he watches the shocked look on Ashley's face and continues. "I need to know something and I need to know it right now. If we're in the field and I give you an order, will you do it? If I tell you to walk away from a situation even though you think you're right, will you do it? Do I need to worry that, some day, you're going to start to resent my authority? These things are important, Ashley. This type of field operation is unlike anything anyone outside of these walls has ever seen. There's no GPS signal to get you back if you get lost. There's no homing beacon you can use to call in a chopper if you're pinned down by enemy fire."

"It's just you and your team. And everyone needs to be willing to lay their life on the line for the others. Are you willing to do that?"
 

SG14 Team Interview

"Yes, sir, I am," she tells him, her friendly demeanor gone and replaced with a very controlled extression that conseals her emotions. "I understand the way chain of command works, Colonel, and that if you give an order in a hostile situation it must be followed even if I think it's stupid. You don't discuss matters of leadership in a firefight, even if you resent it. If you give an order I disagree with, and there are lives on the line, I'll follow it, and complain later. If I have to lay my life on the line for someone else, I will. I understand that we leave no one behind, no matter what. You're in charge, and if we're being shot at, it isn't the time to disagree with you. I can do that back here, or in my reports."

"That said," she continues, "I've read your reports, and I don't believe that you're the type who won't listen to disagreement or change his opinion in the light of new evidence. Given that I know more about some things we'd be running into out there than you, and probably everyone else who'd go through the Stargate with us, it's my responsability to make sure you have all the information you need to make informed orders that take my knowledge into account. I know my place, sir, and I can follow your orders while still making sure you're informed." She smiles, a little nervously, almost a smirk, knowing that this will either make or break his opinion of her. Hoping she conveyed herself appropriately she swallows her fear and watches his face for a response.
 
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