Season One Premier: First Contact

[Kenith Simmons]

Stargate
1100 Hours

Having been at the academy for a year, Kenith had done his fair share of gate travel. In addition to this, due to his physics major he had been schooled on the working mechanics that allowed the Stargate to function, and was aware of the fact he'd just had his atoms torn apart by a wormhole, shots thousands of light-years across the unknown galaxy, and been reassembled atom-by-atom by a piece of alien technology that was as old as the Great Pyramids in Egypt.

He much preferred gate travel when he had no idea how it worked.

As one of the first to come through the gate he stepped clear of the event horizon to allow the others to come through. Putting on his sunglasses to protect his eyes from the sun, he took a few steps down the stone steps of the gate platform down toward the sandy terrain that covered the planet. Even though this was a desert planet, the temperature wasn't as bad as he'd expected.

Waiting at the foot of the platform he looked around as he waited for cadets and staff alike to arrive through the gate. Word was they would be poking around ruins, watching plants and animals and taking some soil samples. Kenith could see himself working on his tan if they had time.

< Tag Cadets & Staff! >

[Raphael "Raph" Meyers]

1100
Huotha
Stargate

It had been too long. Far too long.

In fact, it had been over 10 years since he had last stepped through a Stargate. He was almost as excited as the cadets. After the Physics professor nearly scared them to death with the basic concepts, leave it to Raph to swoop in and save the day with the story of the discovery and history of the Gate. A few stared in awe. A few nearly fell asleep. However, all that mattered now was to make sure the new ones didn't puke upon arrival. Or...at least to aim them in the right direction.

Popping out moments right after Cadet Simmons, he smiled like a kid in a candy store. A candy store of sand...but whatever. With it being incredibly bright, he tugged on the brim of his cap, sliding on some sunglasses. Nodding to Simmons, he moved slightly to the side, ready to reach out an arm for anyone who lost their footing on the way through.

The first time was always the shocking.

"Welcome to Sandworld, home of sand, sand, a bit of adventure and excitement, and...more sand!" he announced as they began to file out through the event horizon, some without a hitch. One tumbled out, a blonde boy that he had seen talking to Seph on occasion. Cadet Hall. Parker Hall. James Parker Hall the Third, actually. What? Raph reading student files? Never....

"Watch your step and congregate down there by Cadet Simmons. Once everyone gets here, we'll head due South for a small oasis where we'll have a bit of fun," he said, smiling at the boy who seemed more than happy to do so. Hmmm, interesting. At any rate, Raph continued as a few more familiar faces from classes he taught.

Ohhh, what fun was to be had today!

<Tag Cadets and Staff>

[Azalea 'De' Andre]

1101
Huotha
Stargate

This was the first mission without the others. No Shannon, no Beck, no Michael. She was it from the original group, and had to help lead the younger cadets. This young woman was officially the oldest and, as of right now, the most experienced. Oh that was a scary thought indeed. No longer was she to look over to Michael or Beck for advice. They were no longer there for the cadet to go running to, or lend aide. Now, there was some responsibility on her shoulders to help pave the way. Though the brunette would never admit it, she was bummed that Beck had decided to fall back to another cadet group. He had spent so long on this one, why did he leave? She was hoping to enjoy at least one more year with him and knowledge, but that wasn't the case.

As they all made their way through the Stargate, Azalea's mind wandered back to the last mission from the previous year. That was a training mission from hell. Her team was sent to the hot side and it was almost unbearable. The heat made the young woman want strip right there and than. It was still surprising that none of the cadets suffered from dehydration. Or that the other time didn't suffer from frost bite. Yeah it was a learning experience on how to survive in those kind of conditions, but still was a hard as heck.

Looking up at the new professor, Azalea just cocked an eyebrow. "I've got it thanks," she stated pushing the hand out of a way. If this cadet can jump out of a moving plane after being so terrified of heights, then there was no way she was going to need up off a landing. Heading towards Ken, the brunette stopped turning towards the new professor, raising an eyebrow. "For as long as I have been in the Academy, there has never been fun on a mission. There has never once been need for fun and neither should there be on these training missions. We are here to learn what is needed out there. Excuse me for sounding rude, but I'm not here to have fun. We can do that on our weekends and days off. I didn't come here for a relaxing stroll or site seeing," she snapped already knowing this was going to be a long year.

Approaching Ken, she stood beside the male cadet already pissed off with the way things were going here. This was going to be an interesting first mission. For the first time the cadets had staff along. Why did she suddenly feel like a two year who's hand was being held along the way? Why did they suddenly need them here? They weren't little kids and learned better alone. Out in the real world they wouldn't have professors telling them from right and wrong, so why weren't they still experiencing that in the mission? Sometimes the thinking of people was very strange.

< Tag anyone >

[Sydney 'Syd' Mutz]

1102
Huotha
Stargate

Syd came walking out of the event horizon and winced as the light hit her eyes. The gate room at the SCG was kind of dark, so going from dark to light was sometimes hard on the eyes. She cursed to herself for not having the foresight to put on her sunglasses before she went through the gate.

Syd took a look around with keen eyes. The planet of Huotha had been deemed relatively safe, but one could never be too cautious.

"Welcome to Sandworld, home of sand, sand, a bit of adventure and excitement, and...more sand!"

Syd grinned at Professor Meyers, appreciated his humour, "Sandworld? I hadn't realized Huotha had had a name change." she said smirking at the Professor. She then headed towards the MALP, to it there were many supplies attached to it that they would need for their little outing. She started to prepare it for manual control as Professor Meyers told the cadets what the plans were.

One cadet didn't seem to be pleased with the Professor's standpoint of the mission. "For as long as I have been in the Academy, there has never been fun on a mission. There has never once been need for fun and neither should there be on these training missions. We are here to learn what is needed out there. Excuse me for sounding rude, but I'm not here to have fun. We can do that on our weekends and days off. I didn't come here for a relaxing stroll or site seeing,"

"It is true that this is a training mission, Cadet. The mission is for us to explore. In the future you may be assigned to a team that goes on many scientific explorations. If you don't want to have fun, so be it...but don't drag the rest of us down. There are some of us that are actually looking forward to the site seeing, perhaps in hope of finding something really...cool. Who knows, maybe the oasis has magical healing powers. If you don't like it, the gate's that way." she told the cadet, thumbing in the direction of the gate. This cadet was sure to be one to look out for. Syd went back to fiddle with something on the MALP.

<tag peeps>

[Azalea 'De' Andre]

1102
Huotha
Stargate

Azalea just held her tongue after that, knowing that any farther mouthing off could, and would, end up being removed from the program. That was something the young woman refused to do. Unlike the new staff, this was her life and knew it was more than they were making it out to seem. They just need to meet Sergent Airhorne, then they would not being calling this cool, or site seeing place. Oh where was Adam when you needed him? He would definitely have a thing or two to say to them. Man did she ever miss the older cadets right now; the graduates. They wouldn't have taken this from the new staff. Adam would probably have commented, respectfully, then led the cadets to the oasis himself. Michael would have followed his lead, and once they got there, have the group split up. This was going be a long year. The scariest part was, as of right now, she was the oldest cadet in the group. That made her the CO of this team. It was up to her til a senior cadet came along. This was going to be interesting.

As a few more cadets made it through, Azalea just nodded. "Alright, let's head down to the Oasis," she started to say to the group. This was her team and she was the CO. So that meant the orders, for the most part, came from her. This was still about the cadets, even if the professors were there for some odd reason. "Once we arrive, I suggest we split up gathering what information we can about this planet, the life here, and anything else that seems necessary. Remember, we are on a new alien planet. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of life. Let's move out."

With that, Azalea turned towards the south, turgig through the sand once again. It took ages to get all the sand out of her hair at the end of the last mission. Now that would be the struggle all over again. As she walked, the cadet's mind wandered. She wondered what Billie and Ken had thought about the outburst, especially Ken. That was a great impression to make on the young male. Shaking the head, the brunette kept the gaze forward. Now was not the time to think about the feelings that were obviously there for him. Focusing on the mission at hand was the first and most important as of right now.

< tag anyone >

[Persephone Meyers]

1102
Huotha
Stargate

Seph stumbled slightly as she fell through the gate, instantly feeling her cheeks redden slightly in embarrassment. It was so disorienting to fall through the damned ring. How did the old farts make it look like they had simply taken a step? It was like walking across goo. Such an odd sensation. Shivering slightly from the odd feeling, the girl rose her dark eyes and stared at the area around them.

Desert.

Frak.

She was one that enjoyed cold, foggy, rainy days. This wasn’t going to be fun. But this wasn’t a pleasure cruise, now was it? With a deep breath, she shifted her weight slightly, watching the other cadets file ahead of her. At least she didn’t throw up. This time.

Looking around, her eyes fell upon her father, bringing a slight smile to her face. But…what was this? Two chickas were talking to him. One cadet and one fiery haired professor. Hmm. Sliding in like a ninja, she caught the tail end of the conversation, Excuse me for sounding rude, but I'm not here to have fun. We can do that on our weekends and days off. I didn't come here for a relaxing stroll or site seeing.”

Seph restrained a laugh at having a thought similar to that a moment ago. But why was she yelling at her dad? The redhead professor stepped in for her dad’s sake, before the brunette stalked off with a few more words. Seph stuck her tongue out at the girl as she left, before walking up to her dad.

“Hey old man,” she teased, “Did a little girl just beat you up?” she leaned her head to the side slightly, before shooting him a smile and jogging to catch up with her fellow Academy-people, including Parker and the rest. It had been awhile since she first arrived here – yet she was almost too aware of the ‘greeness’ of her skills. And she wasn’t talking about how she got very motion sick the first time she had stepped through the gate. Seph was new. New meant she was going to make mistakes. Mistakes meant that they were all going to glare at her and make heavy sighs. She hated that sound. The heavy-annoyed-sigh. This was going to be a long day.

“Where do we start?” she asked the group in general, bouncing upon her toes slightly, “Break up? Gather? Explode? Shutting up now…” she trailed, sighing slightly as she realized she had allowed her mouth to run without too much thinking.

Whoops.

<Tagy: Raph + ALL =D >

[Theodore Waldo Bernard]

1103
Huotha
Stargate

Stepping through the gate with the other Professors, Theo smiled at the view. Ah – a desert planet. Just like home. Not that he lived on his own planet. Well…physically anyway. New Mexico was oddly identical to the scenery before him. Glancing at the fellow professors beside him, Theo sighed, watching the children fall through the gate. It was entertaining to watch the newbs fall and stumble. Bahaha. Entertainment from the misery of others? Quite.

Beside him was his old best friend, Raph. It still brought a smile to his face, how one man managed to get both the Meyers back into the SG program. It wasn’t hard really…well to get what he wanted, it took part of him being so. But let’s not get into that. He was weird Uncle Theo, and he had the little girl – now woman – part of the world that her mother had prospered. Theo was too aware that Seph was not familiar with her mother’s true form of death…and perhaps the girl would not be standing on this other planet if she did. Speaking of the devil, the tiny brunette half-fell through the gate, before finally rebalancing. A mental flashback to the little thing learning to walk slid into his mind, causing the man to smirk. She was exactly the same. Just now had responsibility. And stuff.

As she approached, another girl - Azalea 'De' Andre – approached as Raph herded the kids. Ripped Raph a new one. Ripped red a new one. And walked away. Theo laughed, knowing the girl was the CO of the cadets. Damn. Girl had bite. Seph stuck her tongue out at the back of the CO’s head, causing Theo to smack her on the back of the head, “No – bad. Don’t bite the one who leads you.” Theo cautioned, as the children moved on. He didn’t care if they were all over the legal adult age…they were all children to him.

Looking over to the other professors, Theo clapped his hands together, “Ready to keep baby SG kids from poking their eyes out?” he asked, studying the faces of the others, as he cradled a bag to help them poke any dead aliens they found. As a Xeno-biologist, he was ready, dammit.

<Tag Raph+Syd+Allll>

[Billie Jean Witwer]

1100 - 1103
Huotha
Stargate

Since she was the last to arrive, she quietly took her place by watching the people’s backs. If she was honest, she was freaked out about being the second in command; however temporary the position was. This was oly her second year, she hardly knew her way around let alone throw out orders well before her time was due. She was a Midshipman Chief Petty Officer for god sake, not a Midshipman lieutenant or above.

Her head turned when new face, Humanities teacher, something Meyers spoke up, Rolling her eyes she moved alone, “Better than freezing one’s butt on mission.” She spoke more to herself than others. Remembering her last mission that happened few months back.

Lately she had become quiet around those who didn’t know her. She was a little better around those who knew her. The thing was she didn’t nor she wasn’t yet ready to mingle with the new faces.

She only rose her eyebrow when Az snapped. Only a month into the new school year, her friend was already stressed, third year wasn’t sounding fun so far.

The only thing left to do was follow the crowd.

<<Taggy All>>

((Short and lame....sue me ))

[Kenith Simmons]

1103 Hours
Stargate

As they waited for the others to arrive through the gate, Professor Meyers introduced Kenith to the aptly named 'Sandworld', and informed him and oasis awaited them due south. As Azalea made her way down the platform to the sand she commented that missions at the academy rarely were a 'fun' affair, an observation Kenith wholeheartedly agreed with. "Ten bucks say we get shot at within the hour," Kenith muttered to himself, fully aware of the magnetism the cadets had when it came to attracting the wrong sort of attention off-world.

Major Mutz was the next to join them, one of the few military personnel accompanying the cadets on their field trip. To Kenith's knowledge she'd been with the SGC for a bit and wasn't a stranger to exploring alien planets, reinforced by the justification she gave for the mission. Soon after the other cadets and staff appeared through the gate which soon deactivated, leaving them cut off from the safety of Earth. As the oldest cadet present, Az took charge of the group, and led them due south toward the promised oasis. Kenith took one final look around the desert before falling in line and moving out with the rest of the cadets.

1139
Approaching Oasis

Peering through his binoculars, Kenith could see the oasis Professor Meyers had been talking around. Like a tiny island sitting alone in a wide blue sea, the water and vegetation of the oasis stood in stark contrast to everything around it. Above the oasis some bird life appeared to be circling, either looking for a place to land or on the hunt for food. "I hope they're not carnivorous," he commented as he passed the binoculars to another cadet.

Just as he'd been trained to do, the young cadet kept himself hydrated. Nothing was worst in an environment like this than running out of water. As he waited for a move to be made or an order to be given he looked at Az out of the corner of his eye. They'd been back at the academy for a while, and still hadn't sat down to have a chat about what was going on between them. Perhaps this arid planet would provide the stage for such a conversation.

[Azalea 'De' Andre]

1103-1139
Approaching Oasis

For majority of the walk, Azalea had remained quiet, just letting her mind wander in and out of thoughts. There was a guilt for snapping out to the professor in that manner. It didn't matter what thoughts she had of him or the other teachers, they were still her superiors and deserved that respect. That only meant some sort of apology later. Great that was indeed going to be fun, but something that was going to be necessary to get through this year.

As they all approached the Oasis, Azalea heard Ken's comment about the bird. If that's the worse we have to deal with, I'm OK with that, she thought to herself knowing that cadets had dealt with far worse. At least she could remembering dealing with worse during the three years at the Academy. From being drugged, to dealing with a deadly virus that did take the lives of many, to dealing with a dead scientist in Area 51. A small chuckle escaped through the lips of the cadet, remembering that very first training mission she had been on. That had be very interesting indeed. Definitely taught you to trust the other people around you very quickly. That was when she knew all of this was ten times more serious than anything else, and made her wonder if she really was ready for it. Obviously she was in some way, because to years later and the brunette was still in the Academy; amazing.

"Why don't we split up. Half go with Cadet Witwer, and the other half with myself," she suggested looking over at Billie as if saying, sound like a good idea? Oh how Az was thankful to have her best friend as second in command. That meant more than she could say right now. "We'll meet back together in a hour or so with everything we've discovered. Stay in radio contact. Connolly, Hall, you're with Witwer. Simmons and Meyers, come with me. Good luck." She gave Billie a small smile before heading left, more northeast, towards the Oasis. "To answer your question from before Meyers, this is where we get to explore and gather. Hopefully there will be no exploding," she explained to the Airman cadet having to chuckle at the enesuim she displayed before.

Glancing over at Ken, the older cadet knew they couldn't avoid the topic of 'what they were' for long. It seemed being back at the Academy kind of pushed them back a few paces. The summer had been great. The best summer the young woman ever had, but now it was over and had to deal with the issue here. "So, how has your first month been back at the Academy?" she asked over to Ken, keeping her eyes on the horizon; making sure that they would be the only true human life forms around. Maybe now wasn't the time, but was there ever going to be a time?

< Tag Ken, Seph, anyone >

[Persephone Meyers]

1140
Approaching Oasis

Silently, Seph followed within the crowd – not finding herself in the back or front. It almost felt as if she was part of an elephant herd. They protected their young by putting them within the middle of the group when they walked. Neat. She was now an elephant baby. Forcing her lips to roll in slightly, the teen held back a laugh that nearly erupted from between her lips. Great way to make friends – awkward laughter at nothing. What an ice breaker. ‘Why are you laughing?’ ‘Because I’m an elephant baby.’

Way to go, Seph.

The girl glanced over her shoulder as the others approached and gathered within the small group that was forming, before having her attention shot back in front of her by a voice, "I hope they're not carnivorous.”

Dark eyes automatically slid across the sky – spotting a bird doing donuts around the oasis in the distance.
“Way to be optimistic,” she mumbled back to Simmons – uncaring if he heard her or not, with a slight smile. Alien carnivorous birds. Sounded like a fun-gasmic day already. Woo!

After a few moments of wandering, Andre spoke up – causing Seph to have a mild flashback of Theo swiping her for sticking her tongue out at the back of the other girl’s head. It didn’t hurt of course – he was basically a relative – but it still ingrained the notion of this girl is in charge within Seph’s mind.
"Why don't we split up. Half go with Cadet Witwer, and the other half with myself," she brought up, looking over at the blonde-curly-haired-one, "We'll meet back together in a hour or so with everything we've discovered. Stay in radio contact. Connolly, Hall, you're with Witwer. Simmons and Meyers, come with me. Good luck."

Seph automatically turned towards her group, mildly eagerly following them. Old people. Touch. No – bad. That wasn’t very Academy like. That was just Seph-like. It was time to repress her natural very casual manner, and replace it with a more strict snappy one, to fit her new surroundings, dammit.

"To answer your question from before Meyers,” Seph glanced over at Andre from under the few hairs that had escaped her ponytail, “this is where we get to explore and gather. Hopefully there will be no exploding," Seph nodded, smiling slightly at the other girl’s response to her questions.
“No exploding is probably a good thing in this situation, for once,” Seph agreed with a slight nod, as they walked, before their fearless leader pulled her attention to Simmons – Mr. Carnivorous Bird. Seph was tempted to call him that from now on. Perhaps it’d be Mr. Carnivorous Bird, sir.

Not wanting to intrude, Seph gave them their distance slightly, without really separating from the group. Her oddly large brown eyes kept an eye out for…well, everything – including that bird that she was mildly afraid of, thanks to Simmons.

Dammit, Kenith.

<Tag Andre, Simmons, ALL>

[Kenith Simmons]

1140
Approaching Oasis

Pulling up short of their target, Az split the team into two, sending Billie to take charge to the second half of the cadets. Behind them Kenith was vaguely aware of the staff members who'd come through the gate with them; even though they were ranking on this mission, leaving Az and Billie to take charge where possible was invaluable off-world experience. Of course if something went horribly wrong - as it always seemed to! - Kenith would have no concerns letting their teachers take the lead and walk them out of danger as they'd done so many times in the past.

Deciding to take the lead, Kenith lead the group toward the south end of the oasis, keeping his eyes peeled for anything of interested while Az queried Persephone about her first few months at the Academy. Thinking back, young cadet Meyers seemed to have it a bit easier than Kenith had - on his first mission he'd been thrown into an alien jungle and told to survive and evade capture with no equipment or supplies, then hold off against torture for a couple of days before escaping from the training compound. It had sure when a learning experience for him, and had instilled upon him a dislike for jungle planets. He much preferred desert worlds like this, if something was sneaking up on him he'd have a better chance at seeing it.

Covering the last hundreds meters to the edge of the oasis, Kenith kept his wits about him. While the planet had been designated 'safe' by the SGC, he'd be surprised if things actually went that smoothly. Slipping though the edge of the vegetation the oasis itself came into view, a crystal clear body of water which looked smooth as glass. The trees and bushes around it swayed gently in the breeze, and the bird life that circled overhead resisted the urge to dive bomb the cadets and devour them. For the time being.

"Yeah, it's not too bad," Kenith said, looking around the oasis. "Where should we begin?" As a physics student he'd spent enough time around the science labs to be able to carry out water and soil tests, to study the local animal life or even considered the rock structure that allowed the underground spring to create such as oasis. Though he'd much prefer a good old physics problem right about now.

< Tag Cadets & Staff >

[Samuel Landers]

1140
Approaching Oasis

He had rolled his eyes at Witwer’s comment, but made no comment as he walked along with others in the dense dessert heat within ten minutes sweating at least enough to fill one bucket. He would have swapped this for a snowstorm any day. Prowling through ice would have been better than this heat. Heck anything would have been better than this heat. He had to agree with Professor Meyers’s conclusion regarding this ‘sand world’ as he was calling it. Yet the whole universe is there to explore was still a shock. He had been recently transferred from the Naval Academy to the Stargate Academy. The gate, the wormhole still made his hair stand on base of his neck.

With the Oasis within the view, Sam sighed and took out his canteen. Taking a deep drink he listened to the chatter, the perky Meyers annoyed him, for whatever reason he couldn’t pinpoint. Maybe it was her “I’m naive” attitude over the whole program or just her plain bubbly-ness. The kid had a long shock ahead of her during her first year. But he was glad when he went with Andre. Seeing the two groups parting ways it left him with the teachers.

Grumbling at the Cadet Lieutenant who had no concept of chains of Command, plus she seemed to have mixed her Cadet to Midshipman, grunting he followed Andre, Simmons and Meyers. From the sound of Andre’s experience or rather lack of they needed him. He may not have much understanding of the gate and it’s working yet, but he knew what he needed to do to keep all three from getting into trouble.

Super joy, he was stuck with Miss Perky.

<<Tag Staff and Cadets>>

((Start/Test post for Sam))

[Billie Jean Witwer]

1140
Approaching Oasis


Reading her friend’s facial expression, Billie knew this wasn’t a good idea. She was a Chief Petty Officer for Christ sake. She was meant to take orders, definitely not give them out. Well not yet anyway. Deciding not to voice her opinion just yet, Bills nodded. Turning away in northwest direction she wondered why the ‘noob’ Landers couldn’t have taken care of it. He was after all the one with most experience in leading. Or so she was assuming. Being a Midshipman Lt Commander was saying alot, plus his transfer from the same Naval Academy as her was another point for him. But she was for a second forgetting he was a CO of SGA-2 not SGA-1.

Stopping she realised she really should address the two who were following her. Using ‘I’m not certain’ approach, she gazed at Hall and Connolly, “Maybe we should look around and see what we can find?” There had to been something they could look for. Anything, heck even a strange looking rock to take back to show would do for her, while it might not score her brownie point with the teachers. They could at least get busy doing something. “I should add that we should keep an eye out for anything strange. Who know what’s on this planet if anything at all.”

The whole place was just full of sand. Why...why did they have to come here. Tropical planet would done it. Made all of them happy by not sweating buckets.

<<Tag Sky and James and All>>