Episode Seventeen: Protocol and Deceit

[Jonathon "Yoda" Harrison]

1827
Bridge

Walking onto the bridge, the Lieutenant Colonel inquired, "Report." A Technical Sergeant came over and replied, "Sir, we've made the jump to hyperspace per your order already. Forward railguns are online and we have people below deck prepping the missile arrays. Asgard core powering up at 49% currently, should be full strength by the time we drop out of hyperspace. Primary operations is beam system, but once we pass 75% we can transfer that to the plasma weapons as necessary." Nodding, Harrison turned to the two female crew members and said, "Captain Andre, please assume the conn^ position. Miss* Armstrong, take the weapons console."

<Tag Destiny and Samantha>

When they were prepped at their stations, Harrison took his seat in the commander's chair and swiveled to the Warrant Officer. "Armstrong," he began. "Keep monitoring the status of defensive systems for one. Second, bring up what we have on the type of ship we might be encountering. If we have to board at all, I don't need us getting lost." Turning to Destiny, he said, "You keep tabs on the hyperdrive efficiency and our progress. And keep an eye on other systems as necessary."

<Tag Destiny and Samantha>

1829

Harrison turned his chair around when he was addressed, and nodded at the cadets. "The charts at the back there monitor our various sensor arrays. With our Asgard upgrades, power levels seem to fluctuate, so keep an eye on those readings." When those three headed to the rear, the Lieutenant Colonel turned back to the front to look out the viewport and sighed. "This is the worst part ... waiting," he said to no one in particular.

<Tag Anyone>

^ - Conn: Navigation console
* - Miss: Term of address for Army Warrant Officers (Sir, Ma'am, Mr., Ms., Chief)

[Samantha "Thumper" Armstrong]

1827
Bridge

Up on the bridge, Samantha listened to the lieutenant colonel give his orders. Nodding, the young officer took her place behind the console for the first time. Maybe I should have studied a bit more raced through the computer geek but not allowing for anyone else to see that she was having a small issue with adjusting. It was all part of her talent, blocking everyone else out and allowing for the cells within her brain to calculate the technological data and keyboard for use. With ease like playing a piano, the warrant officer began to type in the necessary codes to analyze the signal. ”Defense systems are still only at 65%, but should be at full capacity once we’ve disengaged hyperdrive, sir.” Making a few more light taps on the controls, Sam continued with her report. ”From the looks of it, it appears to be a small vessel carrying approximately 52 passengers. Long range sensors are not picking up the energy readings I need to fully access the ship’s life signs. I’ll be able to access more when we’re in range.” It was the best she could do for now looking over to Des who seemed deep in thought with her assignment.

<Tag: Harrison, Destiny and Anyone>

[Kara Wolenczak]

1823
Engineering Deck

Bear being the newly appointed Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force which made him grin a lot when he thought about his current rank took control of the situation after looking at the specs for the ship "Alright cadets see if the firing solutions are ready as the weapons were powered down for the party, so I want to make sure that the rail guns, Asgard pulse weapons, and the missiles are ready to be fired as soon as we exit hyperspace also we just installed a new naquhda generator on this bird so I want to make sure its running at peak efficiency with the systems and if not make it work right, so do I have anymore questions because if not what are you still standing here for?" Bear commanded the group of people to get to work and put their gears into motion. Bear smiled for a second because he liked being back in action again, he had been at a desk to long.

"Yes, sir. I'll take the weapons systems." Kara said and walked to the nearest free terminal, running the routines connected to the firing systems and bringing them online one by one. First rail guns, checked without a problem. Then missiles, checked without a problem too. Then the Asgard pulse weapons, not checked. Well, at least two weapons systems were online and ready to fire on command. Kara knew that the new Asgard weapon was the most powerful one they had and she knew that it could make a difference if this rescue mission ended up becoming a search and destroy one.

The Asgard weapon was not running at full strength, the computer could only detect about 70% efficiency due to undetermined power drain in the energy buffers. Kara tried to identify the problem by running a full diagnostic on the system. The result was a problem with the new generator which Jimmy had already found. Most of the power for the weapon came from it and further power loss happened in the buffering system due to undercharge. That had to be fixed fast and preferably before they jumped out of hyperspace and into an unknown situation.

1843
Engineering Deck

She reapproached Biggio and said "Sir, weapons are online and in perfect order except for the Asgard pulse weapons. They are unreliable at the moment due to power drain in the energy buffers. I think some crystals are in need of being replaced. It could also be a problem with the power generators which aren't charging it correctly, but Cadet Alteirs is already taking care of that. I think. I thought you should know this. I also need to know where is the storage, so I get the crystals and some equipment to test the buffers in loco. I've studied this 304's schematics. Once I have what I need, I know where to go." Kara said in a professional tone letting her superior officer, Biggio, know which weaponry systems were trust worthy.

< Tag Biggio >

OOC - I hope this is OK.

[Jimmy Alteirs]

1824
Core

Jimmy continues his way down the hall. He turns to the right, and comes face too face with the core. He can feel the pressure the core is exerting, even with shatter-proof glass separating them. He continues on to the generator room.

1824
Naqahdah Generator Room

Opening the door, he finds a relatively small generator, only a couple feet in length. that must be it, the naqahdah generator. He finds a place to plug in his laptop and starts a system check of the generator again, just to make sure he didn't miss anything.
...
...
...
yep, the generator isn't at peak efficiency, eyeing the scrolling screen. He gets up and takes a look around the generator. He slowly approcahes the generator, wary of any electrical shock that may occur. He eases closer, closer, closer, until he is close enough to touch it. I've never been this close to one of these before, let alone seeing it. Let's find out the problem. Seeing as it would've shocked him a long time ago, he goes up and puts his hands on the generator. Turning, tilting, taking mental notes, he finally sees the problem. I don't know anything about Asgard technology, but I know for a fact that that's not right. Tinkering with the generator, careful not to touch a live wire or anything, he makes a couple slight adjustments. That should do it. Setting it down, he returns to his laptop.

Mark XXI Naqahdah
Installed
Online
Power Input - 950MW AC480 ± 1MW
Power Output - 946MW AC480 ± 1MW
Power Efficiency - 99.6%

Much better. He picks up his laptop and heads back to the Engineering Deck to report his findings.

<Tag Anyone>

[Billie Jean Witwer]

1823
Hangar Bay Two

Billie twisted her face, at the idea of computers, “Not if you wanted me to blow up one,” she muttered under breath so Matt could only hear, but she smirked anyway. She could do home PC’s, but the ones on the ships was something she wasn’t sure about since they were likely to be different. Witwer was taking no chances to have Collier on her neck if she did end up making one computer going to the bin. Till she was certain she could work with them she wasn’t touching them. Maybe a crash course once this craziness was over, she would ask someone to do it. Right now they simply could not afford to have any mishap from her side.

“To be safe,” she spoke up, “I’ll take the hanger bay one. I’m sure I won’t cause chaos or break a nail,” she threw a friendly wink at Matt before running off to Bay one.


1827
Hanger bay one

She glided into the bay, with her hair bouncing from side to side and without actually getting lost. She could earn a brownie point for that. She snickered at the thought then slowly walked over to the Captains and their Squadron Leader. She titled her head a bit to read the leaders name; Syaira. She straighten up, “Midshipman Seaman, Witer, Sir,” she gave a quick salute, “am here to help out where ever it’s required within the bay.”

<<Tag Pilots>>

[Beck "Tucker" Carlson]

1830
Bridge

"Cadet First Lieutenant Beck Carlson," confirmed Beck, standing behind Collier. "Specialisms in physics and astronautics, sir. And gadgets," he added, with a slightly wicked grin. Over the past few missions, Beck's need to 'tinker' with gadgetry had started to become the stuff of legend amongst the cadets. His ability with electronics was natural. He got on with resistors and capacitors far better than he did with other human beings. They, at least, behaved how they were supposed to.

Most of the time.

Whilst he was anxious about the situation, Beck found himself faintly relieved that he had been pulled away from the need to interact with his fellow cadets in a social setting. Here, at least, he could be of some use and not just the clumsy idiot he had put across so far tonight.

"Wherever you think I'm best, Sir," he said.

<Tag: All>

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1828
Hangar bay one

Captain Cromin takes a couple of steps back and he looks at the hangar bay as the few people there were all busy doing one thing or the other. Different mechanical parts moving, Equipments hauling ordinance from one end to the next, different announcements blaring through the ship wide PA system as everyone tries to find somewhere that they can help. Looking at the 302's he remembers the first time he flew one of those birds in combat, it was to stop some aerial attack at the SGC; some rogue Lucian Alliance member was trying to avenge the death of his Father who was killed by an SG team. "Good old days" Cromin whispered under his breath. Just then someone put a hand on his shoulder and Cromin turned around and it was his good old friend 1st Lieutenant Delani Kizinski.

Captain Cromin: Delani...

LT Kizinski: Robert, um, Captain...

CC: I didn't know you were here.

LTK: Neither did I sir, just heard you over the PA so I decided to come offer my services.

Captain Cromin and LT Kizinski had both been together in the AIr Force Academy and they both were recruited into the SGC. They had been friends ever since they were Kids. Both their Fathers served together and Captain Cromin's elder sister is married to LT Kizinski's elder brother.

CC: I guess I got me a Pilot then, there is a locker room over there, you can change there; when you are done, send your stuff up to my quarters, I gotta go take care of some stuff, will be back in a minute.

1829
Hangar bay one

Just then as Captain Cromin was about to leave the hangar bay, he noticed a female cadet standing at attention next to Syaira who was busy cordinating department heads. He walks over and says . . .

Captain Cromin: "Cadet, if I recall the announcement over the PA says report to me. My Squadron leader is busy coordinating all of the different departments. If you have any concerns or questions you make them known to me, if I think it is necessary for my CO to know, I will let him know, I believe we are clear here. Now unto serious business; you are . . ." Cromin reads her name tag and also sees her rank "... Midshipman Seaman Billie Witwer, Alright Billie, according to what I had read I understand you majored in Geography..." Cromin motioned for her to walk with him "...walk with me, I need you to get me all the intel you can on where we are headed, planets, planetary conditions, nearby gates, allies and enemies in that corner of space, language etc. We have to prepare for any and all possibilities, I don't want our 302's flying in blind if indeed we do. Surprise me, I need this intel to be thorough, and oh I will need you to sit in on our tactics briefing, I will need your knowledge of Space Geography, move out cadet." And with that he heads up to his quarters.



1831
Cromin's Quarters


The Captain walks into his dark room which was very simple looking. He had a desk close to the entrance with a laptop on it, a couple of 302 pictures on the wall and also pictures of his family. He had a picture of the Toyota center in Downtown Houston Texas where he and his brother had gone to watch the Houston Rockets win many basketball games and also lost quite a few and that was an understatement. He walks to his closet, quickly changes, grabs his PDA from the drawer and hesitated but then he grabbed his 9 mm pistol, holsters it and goes back down to Hangar bay one.

<Tag Billie, Syaira and all of my beloved Stargaters on here>

OOC: Syaira hope you don't mind, haven't seen you on here in a minute so I am trying to move things along, trying not to step on toes....lol

[Jocasta Darcy]

Jan 14, 2009 21:12:23 GMT 10 Kenith Simmons said:

1823
Engineering Deck

Right in front of him, Jocasta broke down into tears again. "I think I may be a bit homesick," Cadet Darcy replied. "I am sorry. You don't need this," Before Kennith could say anything to calm her she bolted down the hallway. He paused for a moment, trying to get his head around it. Homesickness was sadly something that plagued a good percentage of cadets; thankfully the busy schedule of study, athletics and military training took most kids minds of home, Kennith's included. Most days he barely had enough time to sit down, let alone think of the beautiful log cabin he and his father lived alone in, secluded and isolated near a beautiful lake, miles from civilization. It was pure bliss.

Snapping back to reality, he followed Jocasta down the hall and found her struggling with a door. In anger she slapped her arm on the nearby bulkhead, but only seemed to harm herself. Stepping in, Kennith offered a 'may I?' look and stepped to the door. He twisted the door handle slightly clockwise, and spun it back counter-clockwise. The door swung open easily. "Russians built her, need I say more," he offered with a smile.

< Tag Jocasta >

Jo's tears began again. It had been so long since someone had offered her kindness. She looked at Simmons and tried a smile. She saw the corners of his mouth turn up with an answering grin. Why had she never noticed what a cute smile he had?

Jo didn't know what to say. She wanted the conversation to go on. She blurted out Coffee. Do you drink coffee. She knew it was forward but she just wanted more time with this man

<tag Simmons>

[sura]

1831
Security Center

"Don't worry Captain I'm sure one of the cadets or someone can fix it for you but I can call the bridge as we wait" Bear replied with a smirk, "Bridge this is Bear where is Major Leah" Bear listened to the response "He is in the security center but if you want you can always help us here as we are understaffed but its your choice captain."

The Captain returned the smile, but shook her head, "Sorry, sir, but I've got to get the Security Reports over to Major Leah ASAP," she admitted, "Thanks and good luck with the Academy kids, sir."

She turned and put one foot in front of the other, as she walked down the corridor. Her light eyes moved back and forth across the walls out of habit. She was waiting for something to go wrong. It was just a bad habit of hers. Expect the worse but never admit it - then it would simply be jinxed. Nearly every time she stepped through a Stargate or boarded a ship of any sort, part of her was always surprised to make it to the other side, or to simply survive a mission of any sort.

But she had survived as long as she had for a reason...

Turning towards the security center, she wandered in - her eyes darting to Al. She offered him a warm smile before she noticed other people near by. Quickly her professional face took over, and she gave him a nod.
"The Security Reports you requested, sir," she stated, handing him what he had requested.

<<Tag Major Leah >>

[Alavair "Zoidberg" Leah]

1831
Security Center

He had listened to Joe, nodding on occasion as he spoke. Seemed like they had been dealing with quite a bit back on Earth, and instantly his thoughts drifted away to Ayden. Last he knew she had been reassigned there, although who knew where she was anymore. At one point he would have been throughly annoyed by not knowing where his spouse was. This wasn't one of those situations where she was going out with friends, and would be back soon. No, she was in a completely different galaxy, and who when, if ever, he would have the chance to see her again. Surprisingly though, those thoughts did little to bother him anymore. Not since... her. The very thought of her was a taboo one, and perhaps that was what was made it so inticing. Their little encounter had been entirely unplanned, but since they had seen each other a few more times, each time better than the last. Typically he would have frowned on the sort of behavior he had been dabbling in as of late, but things had changed. He was no longer the man he had been in the past, not by a long shot. He had become something more, something primal.

As Sura handed him the security reports, Alavair ushered her toward a seat, returning her smile. "Thank you Captain Ross. Alright... So this is what we know. We've got about two hours, maybe a little less before we get to this ship. I don't know too much more than any of you do at this point. I want everyone ready to go when we get there, as we're going to need to send a boarding party onto the ship. I don't want any mishaps on this one. Any questions?" When no one immediately spoke up, Alavair left the table, looking toward the small windowless office that he had been told he could use for this occasion. Stepping inside it, he placed the security reports onto the desk. Bringing a hand up too his ear, he pretended that his radio was going off. Nodding as he did so, he made it seem like he was being told something. Looking down at his desk and toward the reports, he placed his free hand on the door frame. "Captain Ross, you're the chief intelligence officer on board. Could you come show me where in all of the files in here I can find a layout of this ship's schematics?" As she joined him in the office, he lightly closed the door, hearing it click before turning his focus too her. They were shielded from the eyes of the rest of the security detail, something he had wanted since she had entered the room. Quickly he leaned in to give her a kiss, a good luck charm of sorts. "Had to get one more before we go do something stupid again."

<Tag Sura, Anyone in the Security Center>

[Karl "Bear" Biggio]

1823-1831
Engineering Deck

Bear talked to Sura Why is everyone calling me Sir today, sure I’m the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force but I’m not a fraking officer he thought knowing the cadets didn’t know better and Sura was just being polite “Understood Captain and don’t worry I’ve had a few kids of my own it shouldn’t be any different then that I hope” he said with a smirk. That’s when Kara walked up to Bear.

Bear nodded as Kara gave him the weapons report At least we got something he thought as he knew the asgard pulse weapons would be the biggest advantage they would have against whatever is happening but he focused on the now instead of the later “Two things cadet” he said with a soft smile “Don’t call me Sir just call me Bear or if you have to Chief, I’m not an officer, I’m enlisted so Bear or Chief got it” he paused for a second and then added “and the storage area is right over there” he said pointing in the right direction and then he looked at one of the airman walking by “Senior Airman Vaughan get this cadet everything she needs and help her out with repairs and if you need my help let me know” ordered Bear as he waited for Alteirs to update him on the generator.

<Tag Kara and Alteirs >

[Joe Skeie]

1831
Security Center

Joe finished talking to Al and all the time Joe wondered if Al had something on his mind and finally settled on As long as it doesn't interfere with the current mission not my problem he thought to himself who knew that not all secrets or desires should be expressed especially in the military.

Then Sura came in and Joe noticed her smile as she saw Al and how she quickly snapped out of it. Joe just shook his head and hoped it was nothing more then a school girl crush. Joe just focused on the mission at hand hoping it was nothing more then that and started listening to Al.

As soon as Al was done talking Joe was already thinking of what equipment would be needed as well as tactics that would be used on the ship to ship combat. That's when he heard Al ask for Sura behind a closed door I hope its just a crush and nothing more he thought with a smile on his face then he thought of something else Please, please let me be wrong about those two for the sake of the mission was all Joe could think as he knew what people in love would and could do in the heat of combat and how emotions shouldn't get in the way of logic How tok'ra of me he thought not smiling anymore.

Still Joe knew he had to focus on the now and not the near future, Joe knew Al was professional and that's all the mattered to Joe right now as he got up and strectched as various people in the room were preparing themselves for the upcoming rescue mission.

<Tag anyone in security>

[Destiny "Silverwing" Andre]

1831
Bridge

Once again, Destiny found herself flying the Icarus. Why did Harrison always seem to choose her? That was the question remaining to be seen. Taking a deep breath, the skilled captain rested shaking hands on the controls and awaited orders. Hearing what Harrison ordered, the pilot gave a nod and focused on the controls. Destiny glanced over at Samantha who was sitting right beside her, taking controls of the weapons. With a nod of the head, the female knowledge the Warrant Officer then glanced back at the system controls; hyperspace and everything else in the line of view. "Everything seems to be running smoothly Sir. Hyperspace is at 100% capacity and ready to drop out on your signal," called out to Harrison taking a deep breath praying that they wouldn't be under attack or what not.

Her mind wandered briefly to Serenity and Azalea, hoping the both of them were safe. The young woman knew that Azalea could handle herself. She was training to become an officer in the stargate program, but there was Serenity. The little girl that still was getting use to life without her family. The little one that Destiny wanted to protect all the time like her own but couldn't. Serenity was a tough little one too. If she survived a whole ship of people dieing, she would be safe here. Shaking the head, the pilot refocused on the task at hand; flying this ship to its destination and keeping the people on board safe.

<Tag Anyone>

[sura]

1836
Security Center

"Thank you Captain Ross. Alright... So this is what we know. We've got about two hours, maybe a little less before we get to this ship. I don't know too much more than any of you do at this point. I want everyone ready to go when we get there, as we're going to need to send a boarding party onto the ship. I don't want any mishaps on this one. Any questions?"

Since no one cried out immediately, Al left and headed over to an office – where he did a good job of making himself look both busy and important. Sura yawned. Part of her preferred being on Delta base. It was just more…exciting. More entertaining. More whoosh of Stargate – ‘let’s go do stuff!’ Here it was…a spaceship. Yeah. With people. Wooo. And errands for her to run. Neat. And occasional data to interpret since she was the Intelligence-chick. Her main time-killer had been Al, to be honest. She probably would have died of boredom by now if they hadn’t passed by each other in the halls – both bored out of their minds. Funny how things work.

"Captain Ross, you're the chief intelligence officer on board. Could you come show me where in all of the files in here I can find a layout of this ship's schematics?"

Sura snapped out of her own little world and stood, honestly thinking that it was just what he said. He was being a bit dull and couldn’t find the right page. This suspicion drifted when she heard the door click behind her.
Oh come on, now? she wondered, a bit annoyed, but didn’t let it show upon her smooth features. A kiss caught her off guard again as he looked over at him. For a moment she went with it – why not? – but she was the one who backed off.

"Had to get one more before we go do something stupid again."
“Isn’t the world or this ship going to explode or something if we don’t get out there and do our jobs?” she asked, raising a brow, and she put her hand on the door, “And I bet this isn’t sound proof,” she whispered, before giving him one last peck. She paused suddenly, a smile spread across her face.
“But let’s give them something to talk about,” she winked, sliding her hands through her pony tail in order to mess up her hair. Looking over at all, she messed up his uniform a bit, before pushing hers a bit off center.

Pulling out her hair-tie, she began neatening her hair, as she opened the door and walked back into the room. Once her hair was back in order, she straightened her jacket and smiled at Joe who looked a bit concerned or…something.

<<Tag Al, Joe, Security Center Peeps>>

[Kenith Simmons]

1836
Engineering Deck

Kenith got a feeling of 'mission accomplished' when he managed to bring a smile to Jocasta's face; combat medicine wasn't all about stopping bleeding and pulling out bullets in his eyes; one's mind and soul needed to be as healthy as their body. Each year a number of cadets washed out of US military academies - or worst went AWOL - from unhappiness, and if Cadet Darcy had made it into the Stargate Academy she was obviously an asset to her country if not the whole planet, losing her could back back and bite the SGC one day.

Plus, she was quite easy on the eyes.

"Coffee. Do you drink coffee?" she asked, her smile slowly returning. If the Icarus served anything that even resembled coffee in taste, appearance or smell he would have said yes; but the muck they'd been drinking since arriving on the ship was hardly anything to get excited about. "How about when we get back I show you a quiet little coffee shop I found in East Colorado Springs?" Kenith replied.

< Tag Jocasta >

Without warning, alarms started to fill the corridor the cadets were stationed in; it seemed something big was going down. As much as he'd love to savor this moment and make sure Jocasta was alright, the blaring alarms were a battle call, a command to return to duty. "Where should we head?" He asked Jocasta.

< Tag Jocasta >