My Name is George Hammond

So, my fault for not noticing (covid's fault for taking me out of commission), but it's not possible to 'stack' research teams onto a single site, barring specific conditions, like it being Atlantis-sized or larger, or the planet otherwise being notable for multiple different sites.

In this particular case, it's fine, since the shipyard is relatively large and the sciences on display would require translation, as well as covering quite the gamut in terms of disciplines. However, the Andanians will be a little annoyed that you've sort of 'taken over' the area.

That said, I'm gonna offer you a chance to double back on your decision to add another science team to the roster (buying a 5th team) in light of this info, which I should have been clearer about. You'll be offered the chance to cut the team retroactively as part of the update.

INCOMING WORMHOLE!
ROLL - Apophis is Overconfident - Advantaged: 76 (Sends less than he should, but more than you'd like)
ROLL - All Hands on Deck!: 72 (The full weight of a mountain on their heads)
ROLL - Blunting the First Wave: 88 (Like fish in barrel)
ROLL - Apophis is Annoyed: 73 (Send a volley through, soften them up!)
ROLL - GET DOWN! - Strongly Advantaged: 49 (Stunned and shaken)
ROLL - Suffering a Second Wave: 14
ROLL - Foothold Situation: 16 76 (Hammond Overwrite: NOT IN MY HOUSE YOU DON'T!)
ROLL - Apophis Throws a Fit: 2 (Fine then! I'll... I'll just send a ship and bomb your stupid planet!)
ROLL - Apophis needs to monologue: 17 (oh yes he does)

It happens suddenly. I'm in the middle of preparing the month's missions, when the alarm blares, then when the intercom comes to life with an extremely worrying phrase, "UNSCHEDULED ACTIVATION!"

Everyone's home right now, thankfully, even SG-1 and most of Bravo Company. That means, by the time I step down to the control room, an expanding wall of guns pops out of firing ports and mostly-shut blast doors, even as the viewing window is suddenly blocked by a massive steel shield. I damn near pity whatever comes through the gate. The radio crackles with updates from one of the forward teams.

"Still nothing coming through. Wait... Cover! Cover!"

I hear an incredibly loud, if muffled, voice booming from the other side of the blast shield. I can barely make it out.

I mash the talk button on the main dash. "What is it? Corporal?"

"It's... It's a giant image of Apophis, sir! He's going on about how pissed he was about our attacks on his worlds, and how he's going to give us one chance to... uhh..."

"...PROSTRATE YOURSELVES BEFORE YOUR GOD AND I MAY YET BE MERCIFUL! I..."

"Don't worry Corporal. I can hear him just fine."

The Jaffa, Teal'c, breaks from his post at my order. "What's this all about, Teal'c?"

"General George Hammond, I believe Apophis may be underestimating you. Colonel Jack O'Neill informed me of the circumstances of your defeat of Ra, and with Skaara taken as the host of Apophis' son, he will know that the Tau'ri were... mostly lucky."

I can't help but grimace, it's not pleasant to remember that our opponent is still leagues beyond our abilities. "So, what, he's just trying to scare us into submission?"

"I find that most unlikely, General. In all likelihood, were you to comply with Apophis' demands, he would capture and publicly execute as much of the base as he could. Should you refuse, he will send a subjugation force through the gate."

Now, I'm concerned. "How many, son?"

Teal'c pauses for an uncomfortable amount of time. "I... have been part of such forces in the past. Several hundred Jaffa may be deployed against Stargate Command, as well as heavy weapons and ordinance, should he not already be using it against his enemies among the system lords."

Heavy ordinance... Bombs. Artillery. Fired through the gate? This could be bad. "Thank you, Teal'c. Get back in position. I suspect we'll be needing your help to fight them off."

Belatedly, we discover the image of Apophis provides a live video feed back to the snake himself, as eventually he gets impatient.

"SO BE IT, YOU WILL COME TO KNOW THE ERROR OF YOUR WAYS SOON ENOUGH, TAU'RI."

"The image is gone, sir, but the gate, it's still open..."

I switch my finger to the intercom. "Stargate Command, hunker down. You're our first and last line of defense when Apophis sends his jaffa through!"

I turn to my aide. "Let's head to the rear viewpoint. I need a clear line of sight to the gateroom."

"Right away, sir."

The gunfire starts up before I'm fully out of the room, as I hear the first few dozen staff blasts impact the viewing room blast shield. I set my shoulders and march, trusting my men to handle the the first wave.

------

Live updates thanks to the new portable radios give me some hope. The first wave is small, according to Teal'c, only a few dozen Jaffa and no heavy ordiance. The scene from the rear port is grisly, but reassuring. There's a lot of staff damage to the concrete, and the blast doors, but I don't see much red blood spattered near our hardpoints, just a bucketful in the killzone. The gate dies, and Teal'c breaks ranks suddenly, shouting for control to initiate a dial and running headlong into the room. "Teal'c, what are you doing?"

"This is only the first wave! Apophis will send more unless-!"

"Unscheduled activation! Move away from the stargate!"

Teal'c barely gets back to the line in time for a massive blast of plasma careens straight into the viewing room blast shield. "Mother of God..." escapes my lips, as the base rocks from the impact, though the blast shield holds firm. A few more massive shots impact the shield, and I'm honestly concerned about the shade of red the steel is turning as it starts to sag under it's own weight. Thankfully the barrage stops, the weapon either too expensive to fire, or Apophis too convinced it worked. Then the second wave comes in, preceded by a high-tech version of a phosphorous grenade. I hear a shout to duck for cover, and I thankfully do in time to see a brilliantly white light carve a solid beam through the air as it angles through the viewport. One of my aides stumbles to the ground and lets out a keening wail, one I hear magnified dozens of times over by less quick soldiers.

Then the second wave rushes in. At least a hundred Jaffa, garbed in full armor and armed with an array of small arms I'd previously not seen much of before. The killzone does it's job, but not fast enough, as the Jaffa just keep coming, and my men are getting exhausted from the blistering heat in the room caused by all the staff blasts going off inside and the red-hot blast shields radiating it like miniature furnaces. Then one of them comes through with a huge staff, slung low like a chain gun, and fires a shot directly at the east hardpoint. My heart leaps and my stomach falls as the barricade crumples, and the men run in a panic.

I do not know what happened on the front next, because I grabbed an M3 armor piercing carbine and a portable radio off the wall and stormed out of the room.

When the sounds of fighting got almost as loud as Davis' objections to my decision, I started to see men doubling back in a panic that stopped cold at the sight of me. I shouted into the radio. "STARGATE COMMAND, YOU WILL GET YOUR ASSES BACK INTO POSITION RIGHT THIS INSTANT OR YOU WILL NOT HAVE A ROCK TO CRAWL UNDER, AM I UNDERSTOOD!"

Hearing my voice echoed in tinny harmony across my mens' radios, I watch the ones in front of me swallow their fear and turn back to the fight. Just in time, as a Jaffa comes into my sights and I put a round through his ridiculous oversized snake helmet and into his brain. I'm no civil-war era fool, so I don't lead from the absolute front, but I stay close enough to the line to keep the men in front of me screaming bloody murder as they reverse the momentum of the fighting. I even come around a corner into SG-1, having pushed from the opposite side of the base.

It's disconcerting just how much I enjoy the half-confused greeting of "Sir?" from O'Neill, and an appraising eyebrow from Teal'c. "Well, what are you gawpers waiting for?! We've got a foot to crush and a door to do it with!"

Eventually, I'm sweating bullets enough to replenish my dwindling ammunition as we force the Jaffa back to the east gateroom hardpoint. Their commander seems to panic, and I faintly hear over the gunfire a request for something, before Teal'c's staff lands a blast dead in the center of his chest, sending him toppling backwards into the event horizon, killing him instantly. It takes maybe a few seconds for the gate to cut off, and the reinforcements with it.

------

The gate comes online one more time, and Apophis appears again, haughty sneer gone from his face and replaced with a look that promised revenge. He goes on a long rant about our insolence, to which I reply as politely as possible, "Get the hell off my planet you self-obsessed snake!"

At which point he takes offense, and tells us he'll be coming with a fleet next time, 'from the heavens, were primitives such as yourselves can never tread!'

And that is when, I suspect, we were screwed.

APOPHIS IS COMING!
Teal'c, with Sam Carter, suspect it will take him anywhere from six months to a year to muster the resources he needs to send such an expedition against Earth, depending on how harried he is by his enemies. Of course, if you 'harry' too much, he might simply yank the resources away from other fronts just to squash you.

------

Elysium (6JB-HFS)
ROLL - Gate Conditions: 64
ROLL - Stealth: 93
ROLL - Recon - Advantaged: 73
ROLL - Intentional Introductions - Advantaged: 45

Your missions to the hidden worlds of Zeus take on a new kind of urgency in the wake of the Apophis Ultimatum. From 6JB-HFS you get word of a friendly human civilization, Elysia. While your first meeting is only so-so, they have expressed some interest. You will need to put some pressure on your diplomatic teams to get these people to play ball...

------

"Jungle Hell" (W2Z-PY9)
ROLL - Gate Conditions: 93
ROLL - Stealth - Advantaged: 56
ROLL - Recon - Advantaged: 64
ROLL - Stealth: 71
ROLL - Bag One for the Road: 47
ROLL - Exit Strategy - Advantaged: 92

The next planet, W2Z-PY9, is notable if only for the fact that it has literal dragons on it, or a close facsimile of them, and unfortunately the remains of a slave mine, still with a live vein of naquadah. The beasties breathe fire, they fly, and according to Major Jervis, they're smarter than any animal he's ever hunted in his entire life. "There's a light in their eyes, sir. It's downright unnatural. It's like it was studying me while it tried to kill me."

Well... cross this one off the list, unless I can hire on Siegfried or Beowulf on short notice.

------

Hesperides (HGZ-B3E)
ROLL - Gate Conditions: 36
ROLL - Stealth - Disadvantaged: 10
ROLL - Fireteam Support - Advantaged: 39
ROLL - Holding out for Support: 84
ROLL - Firefight! - Advantaged: 57
ROLL - Continued Hostilities: 75
ROLL - Exit Strategy - Advantaged: 84

HGZ-B3E is another unwelcome problem. A forgotten settlement of Jaffa has taken over ruling the slaves on the world in Zeus' stead, and there's apparently quite a lot of them. The teams sent in to get information couldn't get much before fighting broke out, unfortunately, but the mines looked large, and very active.

------

"Lost World" (I2L-ACH)
ROLL - Gate Conditions: 72
ROLL - Stealth - Advantaged: 32
ROLL - Ambush!: 80
ROLL - Fireteam Support - Advantaged: 63
ROLL - Exit Strategy: 3
ROLL - Command Losses: 68 (SG-4 is MISSION KILLED, Snake Charmers will absorb the just-formed Fifth Interplanetary to recoup losses, newly minted members of the SG squad program will take up the SG-4 mantle)

I2L-ACH will hold a special place in my heart as a world I thoroughly dislike. I sent SG-4 on this mission myself. I didn't give them direct support. They're all dead. After reporting back regarding the initial conditions of the planet, an honest to God T-rex comes barreling out of the foliage, or so they said. I ordered the wormhole cut to send backup immediately, and while they arrived in time, all the gunfire attracted some other ancient man-eater, a swarm of pterodactyls, and by the time they managed to get Earth dialed, SG-4 was dead, and more than half of Bergman's entire platoon was dead, too.

I won't let them lie out there to be picked apart by animals. I send Charlie Company to retrieve the bodies, for their loved ones, if nothing else.

------

Unknown Element
ROLL - Study Naquadah Refinement: 37
ROLL - Generate viable WGN: 70

With the refinement process worked out from the ores and chemical agents collected previously, the research divisions can safely say they have a much clearer understanding of the theoretical properties of naquadah. It should be much safer to reverse engineer technology that uses it.

------

Rainbow Bridge
ROLL - Study the Shipyard: 55

O'Neill is fuming over the attack, and is less than happy that he's expected to return to Andana to run bodyguard for Carter's team, but they make progress. Desperately needed progress.

------

Relative Space
ROLL - Releasing Papers: 87
ROLL - ??? - Advantaged: 35

Einstein's latest papers on the theoretical physics of the fabric of space and it's behavior at mathematical extremes have the scientific world in the grips of amazement, as usual. The man himself reports to us that he noticed a person shadowing him, but when we assigned him protection, the person disappeared...

------

Zig Zag
ROLL - Live Interrogation - Disadvantaged: 16

Ziegler's report is filled with expletives and furious remarks. "If I wanted to be forced to listen to this kind of arrogance and self-aggrandizement of race I'd have stayed in Hitler's Reich! General Hammond, I am begging your permission to move to torture, it is only fair after being forced to hear this animal speak!"

---Mr. President---

"Mr. President. I regret to inform you, that Apophis has claimed he will bring to bear a fleet of spaceships against the planet for our 'continued refusal of his divinity'."

The line is dead silent. "Are you playing a practical joke on me, George?"

"No, Sir. I wish I could I was."

"How long do we have?"

"Our experts, and the defector, say a fleet sufficient to... pacify... Earth, would take at least half a year to organize and fly to our planet, maybe a year if we're lucky."

"Can we... can we fight em? You've gotten a lot of wild stuff from out there, George. Do we have lasers, or... or missiles... or..."

I can't speak. "Do we have somewhere we can run?"

"We... might have some potentially livable secret worlds, but we'd be fighting for any one of them... Hard fighting."

The line is silent for a long while, save the president's labored breaths.

"It can't be that bad, George. I won't believe it. You've been doing fine so far."

"Sir, please understand-"

"No, no George. You want a bigger budget, this is not how you go about asking! You are on thin ice, George! Thin! Ice!"

---World News---

ALL QUIET ON THE EASTERN FRONT
A temporary ceasefire has been enacted in Korea, as the involved parties come to the table to discuss the end of hostilities. China's expected behavior at the negotiating table is a mystery to western analysts, but the US is expected to push for China to cease all support of the North, and subsequently to propose the annexation of North Korea by the southern government.

DISHARMONY IN THE SSDU
Poland continues to antagonize the newly-formed eastern bloc under the SSDU. With Polish leadership questioning that the Russians have turned over a new leaf, several states that had tentatively pledged themselves to the agreement have backed out and entered talks with Poland instead. An isolationist republic, Poland is expected to seek binding defensive ties with it's neighbors.

DISASTER IN BRAZIL
The Imperial Palace at Rio de Janeiro was bombed this month, as several delegates from a group of former colonial nations were set to attend a summit meeting there. A secret event, the Southern Hemisphere Summit's attendees have laid blame on the United States for the attack, citing the presence of unknown American agents in various parts of the capitol and Rio de Janeiro, supposedly the CIA. A leaked guest list for the event included delegates from India, Egypt, South Africa, and Argentina.

STRESS OF LEADERSHIP
President Truman has recused himself from a recent public speech this month, citing the stresses of his position. Republicans have taken the opportunity to mock him for his 'weak constitution', but anonymous sources close to the president have said that his face appears unnaturally pale, he has been eating less, and his hair has thinned significantly. Some doctors suspect the president is suffering from cancer despite the surgeon general's assurances to the contrary, and is toughing it out, leading to an outpour of support.

---February Facility Plan---


Monthly Change:
Pressure: +!*@# (#$_@The President is panicking, +Getting into fights, ++Unit Purchases, +Research Assignment, -Retirement Fund)
Power: +2 (+Alien Jungle Monster Corpse, +Viable Weapons Grade Naquadah)
Reputation: +1 (+Sieged a Slave World)
Knowledge: +1 (+Passive Research Trickle, +Study at Andana, +Study of Naquadah Refinement, --Release of Theoretical Papers)
Steam: -2 (+++Fresh Faces, ---Mission Killed Squads and Platoons, -Harsh Mission Roster, -Alpha Company's Hardass)

Current Command:
Companies - "Alpha Company", "Bravo Company", "Charlie Company"
Platoons - "Sunchasers", "Snake Charmers", "Guardian Angels", Fourth Interplanetary, Fifth Interplanetary
Squads - SG-1, SG-2, SG-3, SG-4, SG-5, SG-6, SG-7

Scientific Divisions - "Unknown Element", "Rainbow Bridge", "Relative Space", "Zig Zag"

Generating (4) Cartouche missions per month

The President is panicking, and might do something unpredictable. Probably not a smart idea to raise pressure for now...

Command Approach:
[] [CA] Harsh - Lose steam, take up to four offworld missions, gain bonus to Fireteam effectiveness
[] [CA] Normal - Regular operation conditions with three offworld missions
[] [CA] Relaxed - Gain steam, take two offworld missions, Fireteams may not arrive on time for support requests

Company Orders:
Abydos Base - You have command of a company, which is tasked by it's captain to man the Abydos base full-time, with rotating leave. This occurs automatically, without voting. (Alpha Company)

Retirement Fund Operation - This company is primarily composed of engineers, tasked with collecting valuable minerals native to the planet. This occurs automatically, without voting. (Bravo Company)

Major Action - This company will be tasked with organizing major military activities against the Jaffa and Goa'uld offworld. (Viable targets: Hesperides, Chulak, Sha Na'va, Epistis)

Platoon Orders:
Cartouche Missions - The platoon on this duty will take recon missions to the addresses on the Abydos Cartouche.

Fireteam Support - The platoon on this duty will be stationed at Abydos to act as a support team on missions that radio in for additional firepower.

Establish Offworld Outpost on [planet] - The platoon on this duty will take a medium-term mission to a previously explored planet that has an Opportunity on it to study, mine, or otherwise manage it.

Assault [planet] - The platoon on this duty will be sent to raid a known enemy world.

Squad Orders:

Cartouche Missions [address] - The squad will take recon missions to the addresses on the Abydos Cartouche.

Deep Recon [planet] - This squad will take a deep recon mission on a previously explored planet.

Study Site on [planet] - This squad will provide protection for a short term scientific study of a previously explored planet with an Interest on it.

Diplomatic Engagement on [planet] - This squad will act as delegates or ambassadors with known neutral or friendly aliens on their planets.

Infiltration on [planet] - This squad will gain intel on enemy operations on known enemy worlds.

Assault [planet] - Squads can't do this unless assigned together with other squads, or platoons. More flexible on the offense.

Scientific Focus:

Establish Offworld Outpost on [planet] - The lead scientist believes this site may have vast opportunities for research. Necessary to exploit a Knowledge-oriented Opportunity.

Study Site on [planet] - The lead scientist believes this site may be useful for research purposes. Have to provide squad escort. (NOTE: Unless specified, sites are limited in capacity to a single division)

Present Theoretical Papers - This division's studies have produced papers that can viably be disseminated to the public, with some obfuscation of the source. Costs 2 Knowledge, improves Earth technological level, might increase U.S. Stability.

Present Practical Advancements - This division's studies have produced tangible new advances that can be disseminated to the public. Improves U.S. Power, might increase U.S. Stability, might increase Steam. Costs 1 Power and 3 Knowledge (theoretically behind penalty).

Develop SGC Assets - This division's focus on project advancement has borne fruit. Currently might produce anything, but chances are good that based on current research it will be energy related. Costs all knowledge, more equates to greater success chance. Failures refund the cost and may give more knowledge. Success will also likely result in improved Earth tech and U.S. Power/Stability.

Study Alien Technology - This division focuses on captured alien devices in an attempt to determine the theory behind their function, or at least the practical use of it. Needs unstudied Power (currently 6), generates Knowledge, lessens the chance that captured alien devices backfire if used.

Reverse-Engineer Technology - Ambitiously attempt to determine the theory behind alien technology with destructive research. Needs alien Power (currently 6), very likely to generate more Knowledge than study, might explode (or worse), might immediately result in Steam, loss of Pressure, or a significant increase in U.S. Power.

Hammond's Desk:

Request funding [Steam X] - Ask the President for more money. He'll expect more from you, too. Grants a chunk of Steam immediately, increases Pressure gain for a while.

Request manpower [Companies X/Platoons X/Squads X] - Ask the President for more men. Easier to part with, harder to maintain security. Grants more teams in your command, but may trigger oversight, or information leaks, if you overuse it.

Request additional nuclear devices - Ask the President for more bombs. Grants a boost to Power, increases Pressure a lot if you have more than one of these at a time.

Have more experts read in [Steam/Pressure] - Ask the President for permission to headhunt more people for science divisions. Get a science division, either by squeezing your men a bit to fit them on payroll, or in conjunction with a funding request.

SPECIAL OPTION
[] A Capitol Visit - Bring along [SG team], and someone from the IRC who witnessed the ultimatum, to impress upon the president the immediate seriousness of the threat to Earth. The president might react unpredictably, but you know he wouldn't remove you from your post with his own civilian agency backing you up.

You can request each item multiple times, but additional manpower and science divisions quickly run up against diminishing returns due to the strict needs for secrecy during the Cold War.
You use Companies to man permanent offworld sites or organize large invasions. Platoons are used to project a lot of power in one place or do significant mapping expeditions, but they're not very friendly looking, and are unwieldy with gate travel. Squads don't have a ton of firepower, but are pretty hard to pin down, and make good diplomats and recon teams.
Science divisions should rarely, if ever, have no active project. If you have inactive teams, you don't need more.

Please format votes in the following way:
[] Monthly Plan: Title
-[] [CA] your approach
-[] Platoon/Squad/Science Division nickname : Assignment
-[] Platoon/Squad/Science Division nickname : Assignment
-[] Platoon/Squad/Science Division nickname : Assignment
...
-[] Hammond's Desk options
-[] Hammond's Desk options
...