Episode Four - Callaghan and Conway

[Jason Conway]

1525
Briefing Room
Stargate Command
Earth

General Conway was the only occupant of the briefing room at Stargate Command, sat at the end of the long, rosewood table with a glass of water in front of him. The door opened, a man entered. He'd just watched the incoming wormhole from Meropis, and it made for grim watching. An escort of marines carried the bodies through the gate, covered tactfully with sheets. Jason had been briefed shortly before via radio transmission, and he could identify them by shape. Owens, Koizumi... Lying on the third stretcher in agony was Captain Oliver. John Callaghan was the last man through, limping slightly with his shoulder dropped. He had blood stains on his uniform and looked a damn mess. He also looked slightly disoriented when the airmen had approached him and informed him of Conway's wishes. There was an IOA agent stood to the side of the gate room. Conway recognized him as the German representative, Hans Zimmer, he stood out in his suit among the small army that currently populated the bottom of the old missile silo. Zimmer looked at Conway, the two made eye contact, contact that the General did not break first. He would deal with the bureaucrats later.

It had been a long day so far, first he had briefed Captain Jones on the command of Meropis before stepping through the wormhole himself. Then he'd had a briefing with General Landry and a briefing with SM-1. Now, there was this. Major Callaghan, the commanding officer of SM-2 sat on the other side of the table to Conway. They both looked at the varnished surface, silence took hold for a few moments. Conway decided to be the first the break that,
"Whatever happened, it is done..." A few more seconds of silence, "John I..." He didn't know where to begin, "I need you to tell me what happened back there, as much as you can remember. Then you can get some rest." He leaned forward, clasping both hands together on the table, "I can promise you that."

<Tag John Callaghan>

[John Callaghan]

1525
Briefing Room
Stargate Command
Earth

John sat down at the table. The fatigue was clearly visible on his face, even through the multiple layers of camouflage, dirt, dust and blood. Losing his entire team had done something to him. He would be glad for some rest. But even then, he would not hesitate to come into action again if it was asked of him.

The General told the Major to say what had happened. It wasn't that hard to explain, really. "We set foot on the planet. I had Captain Oliver take overwatch over the Gate in case we needed a quick exit." he begun, slowly at first but speeding up as he got talking. "The remaining five of us got to the village, and both McManus and I felt something was off. These villagers that were supposed to be behind us tech-wise were packing some serious firepower, and tried mighty hard to conceal it. We proceeded on to the palace where we were halted by guards. We had to surrender our weapons, but I comrpomised that only McManus, Oberon and I entered."

He took a few moments to take a few breaths. The pain could be seen in his eyes. "We got to the throne room, and encountered what seemed like the boss of the Aliens. A female. She wanted us to surrender our weapons as well, and I , erm.. 'politely' refused. The next thing I remember is waking up in a prison cell stripped of all my equipment save for my backup knife in my boot. It took a little while, but the guards came checking up on us and McManus killed one while I overpowered the other. Armed with their laser weapons, two variants that I have right here" he said as he recollected the events. Then he put the guns on the table with a soft thump.

"We searched for our equipment, found it and went straight for the ZPM. After getting out of the palace, I found Koizumi and Owens dead. Oberon carried one, while I dragged the other to the gate. Once there, the Marines had the gate secured, but Captain Oliver was wounded. We all went through the gate, but right as I got to Meropis the gate closed, without McManus and Oberon present. I wanted to go back, but the techs wouldn't let me" he then said as he pulled the ZPM out of the backpack. That's what had happened.

"Sir.. I want to nominate Captain Oliver for the Air Force Cross, Sergeant Koizumi for the Distinguished Service Medal and Corporal Owens for the Victoria Cross. The carried out their duties, showing axtraordinary courage and and with complete disregard for their own personal safety."

[Jason Conway]

1532
Briefing Room
Stargate Command
Earth

The General listened as Callaghan explained himself, the man looked exhausted and he felt bad that he needed to hot debrief him. It was a matter of urgency though, with what he'd learned about SM-1's mission, he needed to know the state of play with the rest of his team.
"We set foot on the planet. I had Captain Oliver take over watch over the Gate in case we needed a quick exit. The remaining five of us got to the village, and both McManus and I felt something was off. These villagers that were supposed to be behind us tech-wise were packing some serious firepower, and tried mighty hard to conceal it. We proceeded on to the palace where we were halted by guards. We had to surrender our weapons, but I compromised that only McManus, Oberon and I entered."
Conway's expression changed, any hope of a warm smile slowly slid off his face.
"You made a tactical decision given difficult circumstances... Go on..."
"We got to the throne room, and encountered what seemed like the boss of the Aliens. A female. She wanted us to surrender our weapons as well, and I, erm.. 'politely' refused. The next thing I remember is waking up in a prison cell stripped of all my equipment save for my backup knife in my boot. It took a little while, but the guards came checking up on us and McManus killed one while I overpowered the other. Armed with their laser weapons, two variants that I have right here." He watched as Callaghan placed the alien weapon that he had been carrying up onto the table. The man's face seemed pained by the traumatic events, Conway needed to know how this story ended.
"We'll get them sent off for testing, new weaponry is always good. Well done... Please, carry on..."

"We searched for our equipment, found it and went straight for the ZPM."
"I assume Oberon helped you with this?" Callaghan nodded.
"After getting out of the palace, I found Koizumi and Owens dead. Oberon carried one, while I dragged the other to the gate. Once there, the Marines had the gate secured, but Captain Oliver was wounded. We all went through the gate, but right as I got to Meropis the gate closed, without McManus and Oberon present. I wanted to go back, but the techs wouldn't let me." The silence that followed was deafening. Conway knew the two soldiers were dead and one of his finest Captains was gravely wounded but didn't expect to hear it in those circumstances. Ambushed, killed in cold blood by the enemy who had portrayed themselves as a friend. He would have the hard job of writing letters to the families of Koizumi and Owens, better yet, a personal visit would be in order as Conway was on Earth for the week. Captain Oliver would probably never walk again, the injuries he'd suffered to his spine, well, they'd take some explaining. The IOA crossed his mind. To hell with them, he would tend to his men and their families first, then deal with the bureaucrats.
"Major, we don't know for sure that McManus and Oberon are dead. Like you said, the rescue team I ordered when you didn't check in... They would have secured the gate. The enemy weren't on them. It's possible that the gate malfunctioned or was destroyed... As soon as I have enough people, I'll send a recon team to check it out. McManus will know what to do in the meantime." He tried to reassure the SM-2 commanding officer, but words only went so far. "Besides, we've got a ZPM out of this, so look at the silver lining... However thin it may be."

A few moments of silence followed. Callaghan was the first to break it,
"Sir.. I want to nominate Captain Oliver for the Air Force Cross, Sergeant Koizumi for the Distinguished Service Medal and Corporal Owens for the Victoria Cross. The carried out their duties, showing extraordinary courage and and with complete disregard for their own personal safety."
The General nodded and the warm smile returned to his face,
"Duly noted Major. Duly noted." He checked his watch, "John... I want you to get some rest, take it easy for a few days. I'm granting you three days shore leave from the SGC. You'll have quarters assigned here but you don't have to stay. Get out there, visit it an iHop or a local bar. Just... Get yourself away from the base for a while. If you need to take more time then I won't hold it against you. If you want back in, I'll be here, in this room in 3 days time at 1530." He placed a hand on John's shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "I need you at your best, now that we know who we're up against out there."

<Tag John Callaghan>

[John Callaghan]

1535
Briefing Room
Stargate Command
Earth

The General listened to what Major Callaghan had to say, and made comments here and there. When he was all.done, and had recited exactly what had gone on that day he told Callaghan that he would have shore leave.

He did not want shoreleave. The Major knew himself well enough to know that he needed to keep busy, or the guilt would get to him. He needed to get out there again.

"With all due respect, sir. I am fit to get redeployed. Just patch me up on the way to Team One! They're operating Earthside now. Send me after them! Anything but have me stand down! I am asking you, no, begging you to send me out again!" the Major said. Or rather, shouted.

[Jason Conway]

1537
Briefing Room
Stargate Command
Earth

Conway was doing his best to console the wounded warrior but he could see that the man was clearly agitated.
"With all due respect, sir. I am fit to get redeployed. Just patch me up on the way to Team One! They're operating Earth side now. Send me after them! Anything but have me stand down! I am asking you, no, begging you to send me out again!" the Major had began to raise his voice. The General was the first of the two to stand up. He pushed his chair back and stood staring at John, taking a deep breath before he spoke in a calm and leveled tone.
"I don't need to remind YOU, Brevetted Major, of the political repercussions of loosing an entire team." He paused for effect, John said nothing for the moment, "SM-1 has their own mission, and they've got all the resources of the SGC at their disposal. You're not going to like it but I need you back on Meropis. As I said, take as much time as you need to rest and recover." He could see that his orders were not going down well with the SM-2 commanding officer, Jason slowly walked around John and over to the briefing room door, placing his hand on the door knob.
"John. I want you to assemble a new team. Choose carefully, pick the best of the best from the base personnel... We're going to rescue McManus one way or another." John answered him on his way out. Conway opened the door, returning a salute.
"Get some rest, that's an order. I'll be travelling back to Meropis tomorrow afternoon and you're welcome to join me."

<Tag John for the last post>

[John Callaghan]

1537
Briefing Room
Stargate Command
Earth

Major Callaghan clearly was not happy. He needed to do something. He could not just sit around. Even back when he was still a regular grunt, he was out of bed within a week of getting shot. He could not even recall how many times he'd been called a difficult patient.

"Alright, I'll bite. But this time, I want full authority over who's in, and who isn't. Also, I want SG-21's boss. I served with her before, and I know what she can do. She's a professional." he said. He was still boiling, but just like a good relationship he had to make compromises.

'Rest'. He could rest when he was dead. As a song he likes says: "There ain't no rest for the wicked."

[Jason Conway]

END OF EPISODE.