General Conway's Office

[John Callaghan]

"Next time's on me then" Callaghan said as he accepted the glass. He had a very nice old whisky that his dad had given him upon learning that John had been promoted to Major. It had been a happy surprise to find it in the weekly mail call. And more so to find that his dad actually remembered he liked scotch whisky. His brothers made fun of him for this in recent years. According to them, he'd have to prefer Irish whiskey due to the family's Irish descent. This was nothing more than an elaborate joke -if even that- to John. He didn't really care. He drank what he liked. Full stop.

"Sure looks like it, Sir" Callaghan confirmed. He didn't have a reasoning, though.

"I feel like I should be offended that you ask this." Callaghan said. "To answer your question, though... Yes. I will stand, and yes, I will fight. The Marines will stay as long as possible. My team will with us. That's one of the few things I would stake my life on. They know why they're here, and as much as we hate to admit it, this is part of it."


"Hopper. If I know him as well as I hope I do, he'll find his way back to us. The Navy is his life. He doesn't know any different. Nor do I think he wants to. It is my personal, as well as my professional opinion, that if Hopper's alive, he'll be back sooner than we'd expect." the Major said about the Navy Lieutenant. The two hadn't been the best of friends, but they were friends nonetheless.

Then they came back to McManus. "The Sergeant, then. As much as he dislikes Meropis, the SGC, and even the British government, he'll come back. To men like us, busting out of a prison cell creates a bond. Something not easily broken, and something that comes with certain responsibilities. At the risk of sounding vain, I'll say this. If anyone can convince him to help us, it'd be myself, or Captain Oliver. And last I heard, Oliver was still in that medically induced coma back at Bethesda." Callaghan said. He finished his glass, and set it down on the desk.

Then he opened the pocket on the left side of his chest, and took out a pack of cigarettes. He took one out, and then offered it to the General.

[Jason Conway]

"I feel like I should be offended that you ask this. To answer your question, though... Yes. I will stand, and yes, I will fight. The Marines will stay as long as possible. My team will with us. That's one of the few things I would stake my life on. They know why they're here, and as much as we hate to admit it, this is part of it." Callaghan finished in response to Conway's question.
"That's good to hear," he nodded, "and sometimes, whilst you know it to be true, you still need to actually hear it to prove you're not going mad."

"Hopper. If I know him as well as I hope I do, he'll find his way back to us. The Navy is his life. He doesn't know any different. Nor do I think he wants to. It is my personal, as well as my professional opinion, that if Hopper's alive, he'll be back sooner than we'd expect." Callaghan said, Conway frowned at this. Personally, he felt Hopper may well have died at the hands of that thing that called itself Dorane, but he was pleased to hear that Callaghan shared his small candle of hope for the man, even if the purse string holders above him absolutely refused to pour more resources into the galaxy wide search for the two men.

"The Sergeant, then." Callaghan broke the tension by jumping to the elephant in the room, addressing the General's concerns at last and grabbing his attention like a thunder clap. "As much as he dislikes Meropis, the SGC, and even the British government, he'll come back. To men like us, busting out of a prison cell creates a bond. Something not easily broken, and something that comes with certain responsibilities. At the risk of sounding vain, I'll say this. If anyone can convince him to help us, it'd be myself, or Captain Oliver. And last I heard, Oliver was still in that medically induced coma back at Bethesda." Callaghan said, finishing his glass.

Conway bowed his head at that last comment,
"Captain Oliver was a very good soldier, and an even better man." He sighed, "It was his loss that started this whole thing, the lack of confidence by the IOA, the uncertainty... I still have a heavy heart about the whole thing. I'm told he's alive but, he might have to spend the rest of his life hooked up to machines with nurses helping him do everything."

John had opened up a carton of cigarettes and offered one to the General. He waved it away and instead opened the top drawer on the desk, there he carefully opened the lid of a sleek, black container. He selected one of his imported Cigars and rummaged around for a lighter.
"You know it's funny," he said as he began to light the thing and offered his silver zippo to John, "if you'd said 18 months ago that we'd be in my office drinking and smoking after loosing a dozen of my finest warriors to this damn galaxy, I'd probably have had you court marshaled but now," He took a drag on the cigar and blew the smoke in the air above him, he visibly calmed as he relaxed and put his boots up on the desk.
"Now, Major Callaghan, things are different. In a few weeks time I'm going to be sending Elly Clark and a few of her aides back to Earth to finish creating the Mark Ten Naquadriah Warhead." He took out an ash tray from the desk and placed it between the men, tipping the ash from his Cigar into it he carried on, "with that I intend to make a few Etruscans go boom. And there isn't a damn thing the IOA is going to do stop me." He smiled.

The General checked his watch, a new rolex he'd ordered on the last shipment because he felt it difficult to spend a General's wage 3 million light years away from your nearest mall.
"Ah, shoot." He muttered, Cigar still in his mouth, "I've got a 1 o'clock appointment to get ready for. Somebody requested a meeting with me, you don't mind if we wrap this up in a few minutes do you son?"

<tag John Callaghan>

[John Callaghan]

"It's a crying shame, Sir. However, he, like any of us, knew what we signed up for. We knew the stakes. And we chose to accept them, for better or for worse." Callaghan said. He took a large drag from the cigarette, and leaning over, he flicked off some ash into the ashtray. He smiled a bit at Conway's comment about the court-martial. "And had you told me the same, Sir, I would've thought you belonged in the madhouse" he said, now grinning widely.

John took a last drag from his cigarette -which, by now, was just about to start burning the filter-, and then pushed it out in the ashtray on the General's desk. "Then, with respect, I request that Team two be the team to deploy the first of those suckers" Having said that, he stood up. The General was pressed for time, it would seem. The Major had things to do himself anyway. 

[Ethan Collins]

Captain Ethan Collins had met General Conway just after he'd arrived, but now he was going to get a proper one on one meeting combined with a briefing, he'd sat in, been apart of as; team member, Executive Officer and even a handful as Commanding Officer with Major General Landry plenty of times before even once with Lieutenant General O'Neill someone who he felt even after those years of being at the top didn't seem like the typical General, then again all he had to go on really was Landry, and even he wasn't quite the stereotype close but not quite there. Though was still apprehensive it being their first big meeting... and what had happened with the storm.

Major Callaghan was leaving as he came towards the big man's office. "Major," he said respectfully as he continued towards the door. It was closed but not locked. He knock.

Once the all clear was given to enter he open the door and close it behind himself before turning towards the General. "Sir." The Captain stood at sort of half attention, awaiting the Conway to address him. "So we have a team lined up now sir?" He asked, he knew the answer but he was still missing at least a fourth, he Already knew of Petty Officer Stevens and Sergeant First Class Sweeny, He'd preferred to have chosen his XO but you did what you were told and went where you were told in the Air Force, both experience and his father had told him the day he had made selection for the academy.

"But first Sir..." He knew this was probably the most dangerous part of this meeting but he wasn't the type to throw people under the bus. "About the whole incident with the Scientists out in the forest during the storm Sir," He paused before continuing. "Permission to speak freely about it?" He asked, Conway had a reputation for wanting the truth from his subordinates "I'd like to give you my opinion on them and what they were doing, If that's Allowable Sir."

<TAG: Jason Conway >

[Jason Conway]

Late Afternoon
Brigadier General Jason Conway's Office
The City of Meropis
Triangulum Galaxy

Having finished their chat, it was time for both the General and the Major to set about the rest of the day's business. The talk of the atrocities the Etruscan enemy had committed had brought the mood down for long enough.
"Then, with respect, I request that Team two be the team to deploy the first of those suckers." Major Callaghan said as he rose from his seat. The General smiled and reached out to shake the SM-2 commanding officer's hand.
"Just give me an excuse to send you out there, son." He replied, finishing the meeting on a high note. Jason showed John to the door, they didn't bother exchanging salutes anymore as most people who knew Jason Conway knew that he found the whole affair a little bit too formal. The base leader set about tidying up his desk just before his next appointment arrived.

There was a knock at the door, taking a seat behind his desk the General called for whoever it was to enter.
"Sir." It was Captain Ethan Collins, from one team leader to the next.
"Well, if it isn't the captain of the third commissioned Meropis off-world team." Jason said with a smile.
"So we have a team lined up now sir?" He asked.
"Absolutely, take a seat, please." Jason said, gesturing at one of the two leather backed chairs the other side of his large oak desk. "I'm giving you Stevens and Sweeney for a start. Sweeney will be your XO for the time being until such time as we review the team. I'm also looking for an attachment for a diplomatic placement. An alien, Alannah she's called. I'm thinking you're just the man to train her up and look after her for a while. Shall we get down to brass tacks?" He said, referring to the inevitable planning and paperwork that needed to be counter signed by both of them to approve the formal organization of team three and the commissioning of their first ever off-world mission together.

"But first Sir... About the whole incident with the Scientists out in the forest during the storm Sir... Permission to speak freely about it?" Collins asked. Conway was going to bring up the subject himself, so he felt impressed that Collins had marched right in to face the music so to speak.
"What is it you've got to get off your chest, Captain?" Conway asked.
"I'd like to give you my opinion on them and what they were doing, If that's Allowable Sir."
Collins replied.
"Yeah..." Conway paused for thought for a moment, reflecting on the mission report during the storm and several conflicting details between the civilians and the military team who had been trapped with the Koan outside in the storm. "Go right ahead. And don't pull any punches either. We've got a native alien race supposedly living in harmony with us now. Whilst that's part and parcel of living in an alien galaxy, I'd still like to know the details as to how this came to be. Fire away." He nodded and tried to relax and project open body language as he listened to what the new team three commanding officer had to say.

<tag Ethan Collins>

[Ethan Collins]

Having stepped in once cleared he gave his respects. "Well, if it isn't the captain of the third commissioned Meropis off-world team." He gave the general a weak smile, he still was having a little trouble with it, not that he didn't want it or would love the challenge, your first command was something of importance, but he was keen to get down to business getting the team going.

"Absolutely, take a seat, please." Ethan sat down at Conway's invitation, taking a pen out from a pocked getting ready to attempt to keep himself above the paperwork. "I'm giving you Stevens and Sweeney for a start. Sweeney will be your XO for the time being until such time as we review the team. I'm also looking for an attachment for a diplomatic placement. An alien, Alannah she's called. I'm thinking you're just the man to train her up and look after her for a while. Shall we get down to brass tacks?" He wanted to get the forest incident out first.

"What is it you've got to get off your chest, Captain?" He then asked to give his explanation. "Yeah... Go right ahead. And don't pull any punches either. We've got a native alien race supposedly living in harmony with us now. Whilst that's part and parcel of living in an alien galaxy, I'd still like to know the details as to how this came to be. Fire away." He took in a breath before beginning.

"first off Sir, I'd like to apologize for loosing control of the rescue team, I was experiencing some vivid hallucinations, one that at first didn't make sense, almost like I was seeing someones else's..." He was convinced he had seen an ancestors memories of the war with the wraith, he hadn't however admitted it to anyone else yet, but he had confessed about the second one. "And mostly for leaving the team, but Sir... I was back as a First Lieutenant, I was offworld as a fill in for another team guarding some scientists and the Ori came, I relived most of the heat of that mission..." He wanted to stop and focus on what he felt he needed to get out, he knew what he needed to improve upon. "But mainly sir, I'd like to say I believe Doctor Black made the right call... going out there and saving the Koan, it might not have been within orders sir... but sometimes the right thing to do isn't." He hoped he wasn't overstepping his bounds. "Sorry sir... I don't mean to be disrespectful. But if we win by loosing what makes us human, what makes us... us, It's not really winning in my opinion Sir, if we are to go down sir, I'd rather go down knowing I did what was right." He wanted to leave it there.

"As for the alien... Alannah, happy too sir we've all got to play our part and we can need every ally we can get sir."

<TAG:Jason Conway >

[Jason Conway]

The General had asked for honesty from his fine serving men and women. No more, no less. Captain Collins was here, it seemed, to air his honest views on how the recent incident on Meropis had played out. Jason Conway had read the mission reports but they were always... Different, one could say. Mission reports tended to be written from the perspective of somebody knowing their bosses and their bosses' bosses would be reading them. They redacted certain details, certain decisions and most importantly, how people felt.

The Captain began to explain the vivid scenes he had experienced as the freak storm passed over, similar things had been reported unofficially base wide although nobody had wanted to put pen to paper about it for fear of being declared insane and shipped off back home. Conway decided not to say anything, but nodded in agreement. What Ethan was telling him did sound interesting, could they have been experiencing the memories of their ancestors that day? Conway had still not shared with anybody what he had been through, what he had come to think was a possible future timeline.

"But mainly Sir," Ethan continued, "I'd like to say I believe Doctor Black made the right call... going out there and saving the Koan, it might not have been within orders sir... but sometimes the right thing to do isn't. Sorry sir... I don't mean to be disrespectful. But if we win by loosing what makes us human, what makes us... us, It's not really winning in my opinion Sir, if we are to go down sir, I'd rather go down knowing I did what was right."
"Thank you Ethan, I'm... Very glad you put it that way. Personally, I don't feel that taking any action against Doctor Black and his team is in anyone's best interests. No doubt the IOA will pick up on all of this and I'll have a few debates about my ability to carry out the role in my near future. But you're right. Loosing our humanity is loosing the fight altogether. Well put, Captain." Conway replied.
"As for the alien... Alannah, happy too sir we've all got to play our part and we can need every ally we can get sir." Ethan stated.
"Excellent. I'm really glad to hear it. She's been picked up on a trade mission that SM-4 recently carried out. One of their first missions actually. It's a peaceful farming community from what I've told. Alannah can certainly hold her own in close combat but nonetheless I'd like her at least basic trained on a P90 if you're taking her off-world. Treat her as an observer if you can, I doubt our relations will go down too well if we get her killed... Or worse." He grimaced, out here on the edge of the universe you come to learn that there are fates worse than death, "But, I'm sure you are the safest hands she could be in. You got those scientists back in one piece despite the circumstances after all..."

Conway reached into one of the drawers on his desk and pulled out a thin brown file stamped 'CONFIDENTIAL'. He threw it on the desk in front of the Captain.
"Here." He said, noting the minor expression of confusion passing across Ethan's face, "Your first mission. You'll be taking a little trip aboard the Sun Tzu." The General said with a smile.

<tag Ethan Collins>

[Ethan Collins]

He carefully watched Conway's expression mostly he was trying to Gauge someone he would have to, most probably get used to delivering both the good and the bad to, the price of a team command but still disappointing a General usually wasn't a great way to advance your career, not that he was particularly interested in become part of the brass himself, he wasn't sure he could distance himself from the action like that, he might have been an officer, but he like to get things done.

"Thank you Ethan, I'm... Very glad you put it that way. Personally, I don't feel that taking any action against Doctor Black and his team is in anyone's best interests. No doubt the IOA will pick up on all of this and I'll have a few debates about my ability to carry out the role in my near future. But you're right. Loosing our humanity is loosing the fight altogether. Well put, Captain." He nodded relieved at the General's response.  "The IOA sir, if they didn't want you here for one reason..." He paused knowing full well the IOA's policy to always have a fall guy. "Or another I'm sure they'd have caused an incident of some kind at Homeworld Command." At least Homeworld command was run by people who'd been out here, General O'Neill mostly seemed able to balance the IOA out.

They moved onto the subject of their new Alien friend. "Excellent. I'm really glad to hear it. She's been picked up on a trade mission that SM-4 recently carried out. One of their first missions actually. It's a peaceful farming community from what I've told. Alannah can certainly hold her own in close combat but nonetheless I'd like her at least basic trained on a P90 if you're taking her off-world. Treat her as an observer if you can, I doubt our relations will go down too well if we get her killed... Or worse."
 He nodded. "I'll book her in with the range, I might also talk to Major Callghan, see if he can lend one of his men for the session, keep the training in perspective sir." He'd not spoken with the Marine Major but he knew of him and getting him or one of his men to help train his knew team member could be of benefit.

"But, I'm sure you are the safest hands she could be in. You got those scientists back in one piece despite the circumstances after all..." He nodded, it wasn't easy to think about all he had done to get those scientists and the other members of that team back against the Ori, it had shown him a part of himself he wasn't sure he liked, but it was a part of himself he was trained to utilize if necessary, the instinct to survive. "Yes Sir."

"Here. Your first mission. You'll be taking a little trip aboard the Sun Tzu."
 He looked a little confused at first at the file Conway had produced. He picked it up and opened it giving it a glance for a few moments. "Well seems as good of a reason as any, advanced shield and hyperdrive technology, if it lets us upgrade or replace our current shields and get designs or notes of the working of later Ancient hyperdrives, we could upgrade the 304s even more." Well now he had a mission.