Episode Five: Icarus

[aaron]

1000
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

"...It's just supposed to be an induction so you kids can see how we operate our new space cruisers." Steele finished off, answering one of the cadets questions. He had been recently transferred to the Stargate Academy to be an AOC of one of the cadet teams; something he was excited about.

Steele stopped the group as they entered the bridge of the ship, "You kids should find this part of the ship interesting, the Colonel agreed about letting all of you witness the take-off from one of the best seats in the house." He said with a grin.

Marshall looked around at the group of cadets before him, they appeared to be a pretty good group of kids in his opinion, and he respected them for getting this far, not many cadets had made it to the Stargate Academy.

<Tag SGA-1>

[lakota]

1000
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth


The bridge was a beehive of activity and Lakota did her best to stay out of the way. She still couldn't quite believe it. She was on a spaceship! And she was going to stay on it while it took off! Never in her wildest dreams had she envisioned being here.

Oh, sure, yeah, she dreamed of being an astronaut but that was so far from this reality that they didn't even compare.

She stayed against the wall, her eyes wide as she gazed around the bridge and listened to the soft-voiced conversations between stations. She discretely pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

There was only one word to describe this entire experience: awesome!

<tag anyone>

[malachi]

1000
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Malachi looked around attentively. He was liking this mission better than the last one. Not only was there no snow or ice whatsoever, they were on a ship that was about to leave the planet. He felt like he was on one of those Sci-Fi shows like Wormhole X-treme. Not that he would admit that he ever watched that show.

He looked at his team mates to see their reactions. It was odd to be the leaded of the team, he was thankful for his promotion. He could hear the crew members of the ship start the process of the lift off.

[aaron]

1005
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

After talking to Colonel Pendergast about the nature of the flight they were embarking on, Steele made his way back over to the group of cadets, none of them had spoken a word to him since, well never. "Alright kids, we're departing in ten minutes. Now, I know you are all the best and the brightest, you have to be to be here, but besides that I know nothing. Tell me a little about yourselves." He said giving the kids a reassuring smile.

Seeing a skeptical look cross the cadets faces he frowned slightly, "Why don't I start it off? I'm from LA, my father was a commercial pilot and my mother was a waitress. I'm an only child and I have a rather odd obsession with sushi." Marshall stated as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Trying to get these kids to talk was worse than holding up a conversation with his own father; who had never said more than two words to Marshall when he was younger.

<Tag SGA-1>

[lakota]

1005
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Lakota looked at her team mates and then gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. Major Steele seemed unusually casual and chatty for an officer but hey - if he wanted to know them then she had no problem telling him.

"I grew up in a little town in Pennsylvania. My parents are divorce. My mom works at Walmart. My Grampa and my uncle are both served in the Air Force. I've wanted to attend the Academy for as long as I can remember, and now I'm here."

Lakota looked towards the viewscreen, imagining the view it would soon have. She was really here!

<tag Steele, anyone>

[aaron]

1006
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Marshall nodded his head slightly as one of the cadets spoke up. Lakota was her name - at least he thought it was. Glancing down at her shirt he felt relived when it stated that he was correct. "I know how it can be with a divorced family, but you got this far you must be a pretty strong girl then!"

Steele always thought that it was important to build relationships with whomever he was working with, it allowed for the people to understand each other more easily, and how did he expect the cadets to trust him if it didn't appear that he trusted them? Exactly, it couldn't - no, would never work that way.

Smiling he looked at the other cadets, hoping that at least another one would speak up. Only Lakota had spoken to him since they first met. He knew that he was replacing their former officer and only hoped they weren't bitter towards him for that, he was just going where he was told, and he wasn't sure about the other Officers who had this job, but he was enjoying every minute of it.

<Tag SGA-1>

[Michael "Shorty" Long]

1007
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Michael walks up and sees the rest of the team chatting amongst themselves and says "This is great ship... Right" Michael then thinks to himself "These guys will do fine and I am their XO" with a smile on his face "Hi Major" Michael said after noticing Major Steele standing in the group chatting with the cadets. "Sir what is the latest briefing??" Michael asked the Major stepping over to him motioning to him to talk to him away from the group..

Michael is wearing his Cadet Officer Uniform and is feeling proud of it with all standard equipment attached as well as Insignia to mark his rank and position.

<Tag Steele, Anyone>

[aaron]

1007
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Marshall turned to face the young man that addressed him and chuckled slightly, "Well son, if you were paying attention a few minutes ago you would've heard me say that we're taking off in ten -" He glanced down at his watch, then corrected himself, "well now, eight minutes."

Steele observed the young man standing in front of him, Michael Long was his name, and he was the teams executive officer. He seemed like a pretty bright kid and would make it along nicely if he just learned to listen to what was going on around him. Patting Michael on the back he smiled slightly, "Keep those ears open son." Then Steele turned back to face the rest of the group with a look of amusement on his face.

<Tag SGA-1>

[William Siegfried]

1008
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

William's eyes darted from left to right as he looked at everything he possibly can without tripping over or causing an accident he kept to the back of the group as they followed the Major towards the bridge. “This beats Star Trek for sure.” William muttered to himself as he continued to walk the hallways of the Prometheus he listened to what the Major had said but still his head turned left as they passed an open door. William stopped just behind the commander’s chair of the Prometheus he looked out of the window never in his life William would have thought he’d be onboard a vessel that can not only fly but can travel through space. William turned to face Major Steele as he explained a few things once the first two cadets had finished speaking William decided that he better speak up.“I was born in New York my father left my mother and e shortly afterwards I spent most of my childhood in and out of trouble though grade eleven I decided to join the Air Force Academy and I could think of anything better.” William explained.

<Tag Anyone>

[lakota]

1008
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

What is with these guys? Lakota wondered looking between Long and Shorty. First Long puffed up his rank, treated the Major with almost insane casualness, and attempted to give him nonverbal orders. Lakota bit the inside of her cheek as Major Steele put Long in his place a lot more kindly than many officers would have.

Peterson, however...her eyebrows lowered into a frown, then she quickly smoothed her face into neutral non-expression before anyone noticed. She'd worked hard from junior high on to earn a place at the Academy. He screwed off until the last minute then decided to go for it because he couldn't think of anything better? Lakota almost felt cheated. Almost. She'd learned a lot of important life lessons over the past six years while she prepared herself for the Academy. Lessons that Peterson may not have had time to really learn yet.

I don't have to like them, I just have to work with them, Lakota told herself firmly. And I shouldn't be so quick to make judgments, either, she reminded herself. That had gotten her into awkward situations more than once. Maybe Peterson had worked really hard that last year to turn things around. And maybe Long had a history with Major Steele that made him confident enough to be so casual with their AOC. She didn't know; she was the new girl on campus and was still feeling her way around these things.


<tag anyone>

[aaron]

1010
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Steele raised his eyebrow at Peterson's comment. "Must have been quite the turn-around." He stated as he glanced over at Peterson, his name escaping him for a moment, but then he remembered him, William Peterson, that was it.

Steele shook his head slightly, mentally smacking himself for not talking to Long more abruptly, then again, there was always next time. If he did it again he would get a must harsher reprimand. Marshall had always been an easy going man, not much could get him mad, but he knew that was not the case with other officers, if Long had done that to them he probably would've went home crying.

"After take-off we're going to take a nice little tour of this puppy." Marshall said finally, snapping himself out of his thoughts. "A few of the levels are off-duty due to the danger of the work that is done on each level, but I'm sure we can find something that interests each of you." He said with a small smile as he looked at all the cadets hoping everything would go smoothly.

<Tag SGA-1>

[malachi]

1011
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth


"Will we be aloud to view any of the hangers?" Malachi asked, "Perhaps sit in a 302? Maybe he was pushing his luck with that last one, but one could hope. He hadn't actually seen one, only pictures in class. He guessed it was just one of those things with guys and cars, except this was ships. He couldn't wait to graduate from the Academy next year and hopefully be fully involved in the Stargate Program. He had seen too many awesome things to go back to anything normal.

[lakota]

1011
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Lakota's eyes lit up at that possibility and she looked at Major Steele while she waited for his answer. Actually sitting in a F-302 would be totally cool! As much as she'd like to learn to fly - and planned to, while at the Academy - it wasn't her chosen major. This would probably be her only opportunity to actually be in a F-302.

She grinned at Gadriel, delighted he'd asked the question. It wouldn't have occurred to her, but if they got to do it... C'mon, say yes! she silently begged Major Steele.


<tag anyone>

[aaron]

1015
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Marshall shook his head as a small laugh came out, "You kids ruined my surprise." He said with a joking but saddened tone of voice. "That's what I was talking to the Colonel about." He said as a grin crossed his face.

Once he heard the Colonel's voice announcing take-off he motioned to the window. "You kids want to see this from the front row?" He asked as he made his way over to the bridge window and stood with his arms crossed as he watched the Prometheus slowly rise from the ground.

<Tag Cadets>

[lakota]

1015
BC-303 Prometheus
Earth

Lakota didn't need a second invitation. She hurried to the window and stood to the Major's right, slightly behind him, and watched as the horizon changed, the only real indication that the Prometheus was rising from the ground. She glanced at her team mates, her cheeks aching with the grin on her face.

"This is just awesome," she said quietly, her eyes fixed on the screen.

The clear azure blue of the sky darkened quickly, but gradually enough that they could appreciate the changing hue. Lakota hugged herself as the dark blue shaded to black and the concealing atmosphere of earth parted and revealed a view of infinite ebony, pinpricked with the bright white dots of distant stars.

"Oh my God," she breathed faintly, "we're in space!"


<tag anyone>