Reaching for the Stars - A Stargate Quest

The phrase "hurry up and wait" was widely known in the military for a reason, but this was getting ridiculous. You had been urgently called to Washington, rushed with a helicopter from Andrews to the Pentagon, just to sit in a blank room for three hours. Then some harried looking Corporal came in, handed you a deployment order and told you that you would be briefed in the plane before running off again. So, back to Andrews AFB it was and an hour later, you were ushered into the cargo hold of a C-130 heading for Colorado of all places.

You had already been expecting to be left sitting there for another few hours without much information and just the drone of the engines for company. The deployment order itself was far from enlightening. You were to report to Peterson Space Force Base. No mention of to whom or what for, just the location. You were also getting promoted for the duration of your command, and they had unceremoniously stuffed your two new starts into the same manila envelope the order came in. Quite a breach of protocol, but you weren't going to complain about an unexpected promotion.

You were now Major General…

[] [Name] Write-In Name James Harrison

… which had been a long way from your background as …

[] [Background] … Special Forces Operative.
You had been involved in quite a few fights over the years, more than a few of which clandestine in nature.
Increase personal Combat and Stealth. Trait helps to keep discipline and training your soldiers for combat.

[] [Background] … Military Attaché.
You had been stationed in embassies around the world, working with and advising the militaries of Americas allies and other friendly governments.
Increase personal Diplomacy and Awareness. Trait helps when setting up military cooperation's with alien governments.

[] [Background] … DARPA Liaison.
You have been working with the military-industrial complex and learned a lot about both procurement and various experimental technologies over the years.
Increase personal Diplomacy, Engineering and Physics. Trait can help with procurement of experimental equipment.

[] [Background] … son of a political dynasty.
You had only joined the military because it would look good on your resume, but kept sticking with it instead of following your father into Congress.
Increase personal Diplomacy. Gain additional Trait "Connections in Washington", which can be called upon to resolve political situations in your favour.

It seemed almost as if that would be everything that the Pentagon would let you know until you arrived in Colorado Springs, but shortly after taking off, a young woman in Air Force dress uniform came from the cockpit. She gave a sharp salute. "General, it's a pleasure to meet you and I would like to apologise for the chaos. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were debating your posting until an hour ago and then told us to immediately bring you to the installation. I'm Captain Samantha Carter and here to brief you on Project Lodestone."

"At ease, Captain," you replied while taking the folder she offered you, stamped with 'Top Secret Lodestone' in bold letters. Opening it, the first page was dominated by the drawing of ring with strange symbols on the rim. "What am I seeing here?

"This device is called a Stargate. It was found in 1943 during an archaeological dig in Egypt and brought to the US, where it was seized by the US army. It was analysed on and off for decades until it was successfully activated the first time as part of Air Force project 'Lodestone' two years ago. We established a connection to another Stargate on an alien planet called Abydos and under orders of Major General West, a reconnaissance team was sent."

She paused there, waiting for you to finish thumbing through the documents. Your first impulse was to call this all nonsense. Some inane MK ULTRA nonsense that somehow escaped being shut down, but if that was the case, then they were rather committed to the bit. The documents certainly made everything look legitimate. Star charts. Wormhole theory. Room temperature superconductors. Exotic energy. You felt a bit out of your depth. "What about General West? Why am I taking over the project?"

"Major General West…" She hesitated until you opened up the next page, which was a mission report. "He was dishonourably discharged for insubordination."

"Come again?"

"He had failed to obtain proper authorization for the Abydos mission. Or for the use of a nuclear weapon during it." At your incredulous stare, she pointed at the mission report. "The team was tasked with assessing the surroundings of the gate on Abydos and if any threat was detected, to destroy it with a modified W88 warhead. After encountering an alien being that styled itself as the Egyptian sun god Ra that ruled over the local human population as slaves, the team activated the device before retreating, destroying the Abydos gate, the alien Ra and the spaceship he was using as his base of operations."

You kept staring at her, expecting someone to jump out and reveal the joke, but she seemed dead serious. "No offense Captain, but that's all a bit hard to swallow. So, the Air Force nuked an alien god. What then? Where do I come into the picture?"

"The project was frozen when the Pentagon learned of General Wests actions and after he was discharged, the base was mothballed and only a small research staff was allowed to continue purely theoretical work on the device. The assumption was that with the gate on Abydos destroyed, it had become unusable."

She handed you a tablet on which grainy security camera footage was playing. The ring from the drawing was doing something, part of it rapidly spinning, before something like a cloud burst from it and a shimmering blue plane formed in the ring. Some sphere tumbled out of it and a woman in an Air Force jumper came into the picture to investigate it. A few seconds later, multiple people marched out of the gate, all wearing silver metal armour and comically huge helmets in the shape of a serpent. The last to step through wore a golden version of the armour.

You kept watching in rapt attention as a firefight started. The aliens, and now you could fully believe that this was indeed what you were seeing, were shooting bolts of energy from their staffs. They were taking fire from the Air Force personnel in return, but most failed to penetrate their armour and a few were stopped by a shimmering barrier around the golden figure leading them. It did not last long. In the end, the Stargate activated again and the aliens fled, but taking four wounded Air Force members with them and leaving three of their own behind.

"This happened today at 01:22. There have been 6 dead on our side, 4 abducted and 3 dead on theirs. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have been debating since then what to do. Project Lodestone is getting reactivated and on direct orders of the President, you were picked to lead it. Overall jurisdiction will be with…"

[] [Branch] … the US Army
Fighting on the ground is what decided the only other Stargate mission and based of that experience, the Army was assumed to be the best suited to deal with the threats that the early exploration will likely face. At least that is the official reason. The unofficial reason is that there was no majority willing to trust any of the other branches while the Army managed to sound like a much less risky option in comparison.


[] [Branch] … the US Marines
As all Stargate related deployments will boil down to scouting and expeditionary operations, it was decided that the Marines would be the best fit for commanding the program, mutterings about putting the worst meatheads in charge of such a delicate matter notwithstanding. It will be quite a challenge though for the corps to establish a presence and logistics network in the middle of Colorado.


[] [Branch] … the US Air Force
The Air Force originally had jurisdiction over matters related to space and thus the original Stargate mission. In the intervening years, the political landscape has changed quite a bit, but through some strings being pulled on the highest levels, the Air Force retained control of the reconstituted Stargate Command. However, this is far from uncontroversial and many in Washington are just waiting for an excuse to put someone else in charge.


[] [Branch] … the US Space Force
Regarded by many as a joke, the Space Force is none the less the branch that arguably should have been in charge of the original Stargate Program. Despite many arguments that the youngest military branch lacks the equipment and personnel for this task, it was decided that some padded funding would be enough to take care of that. It remains to be seen if that is true.


It took a moment to digest all of that. Aliens, attacking an US military base, and you were put in charge of fighting that conflict. You could have really done with some time to prepare for this, but when you were done skimming the dossier, it was only two more hours until landing in Colorado Springs. At least Captain Carter, who had been in charge of the scientists still working on the Stargate and what little data they had from the Abydos mission, had managed to have the Pentagon sign off on some orders. Most of the old personnel, if available, was being rushed to Cheyenne Mountain and they were trying to get the cobwebs out of the base as fast as possible.

Using a secure line, you gave your first orders too.

Pick two things to be done while you are on the way:

[] [Orders] Get more soldiers and some heavy weapons to defend the Stargate in case the aliens return.

[] [Orders] Urgently get some medical personnel there to analyse the dead bodies. You need to know what these aliens are.

[] [Orders] Let the scientists do some tests with the captured alien equipment to assess their capabilities.

[] [Orders] Spend the extra effort to comb through the storage rooms of the base. You want every bit of equipment available that West got his hands on. Or be aware of any surprises he left behind.

[] [Orders] Get a staff of linguists. The reports mention that the aliens on Abydos spoke ancient Egyptian, so you will likely need people with knowledge of it.

[] [Orders] Call the commander of the Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station. You will be operating in their cellar for the foreseeable future and would prefer few tensions between your bases.

[] [Orders] Have the scientists prepare a briefing for you on what they have been working the last two years. Maybe there's something that could be immediately useful.

Current Situation

Commander
Rank: Major General (OF-7)
Name: James Harrison
Service Branch: Space Force
Traits:

• Political Dynasty - You had only joined the military because it would look good on your resume, but kept sticking with it instead of following your father into Congress.
• Connections in Washington - You've spent years rubbing shoulders with congress members, diplomats and ministers. With many you have a decent rapport, giving you the ability to resolve matters with a few well placed calls.

Skills:

• Combat – 1
• Diplomacy – 5
• Awareness – 2
• Stealth – 0
• Medicine – 0
• Engineering – 0
• Physics – 0

Luck: 1
Misfortune: 0

Stargate Program
Poster Child
Despite being a program that doesn't exist, housed in a base that doesn't exist, and which works with things that don't exist, you are the biggest and most prestigious operation of the as of yet tiny Space Force. With that comes a lot of political pull within the force and a short line to the Pentagon and the White House.

Ample Funding
Space is expensive and so is building up a new branch of the military. There's also not a lot of surprise that most of that funding ends up in projects that need excessive security clearance to even learn the name of. As a result, your budget is very well padded and nobody is going to look too closely on your spending.

Bare Bones
The Space Force is tiny and most of it is centred around satellites, not ground missions far from friendly lines. You will have to build up pretty much all capabilities in that regard from the ground up, or get some aid from other branches. The requirements of secrecy might also make it difficult to obtain heavy equipment, should the need ever arise.

Pending Review
The Stargate Program will be reviewed at the end of the fiscal year (after Turn 15). You have until then to build a case for why the program should continue.

Mining Engineers
Your engineering company has at it's core a group that is most experienced with mining and the construction of bunkers, making such projects much easier for you.

Bases

Personell


Base Staff
Captain Samantha Carter
Skills:

• Combat – 2
• Diplomacy – 0
• Awareness – 2
• Stealth – 1
• Medicine – 0
• Engineering – 3
• Physics – 4

Captain Janet Fraiser
Skills:

• Combat – 2
• Diplomacy – 1
• Awareness – 3
• Stealth – 0
• Medicine – 4
• Engineering – 0
• Physics – 0

Doctor Daniel Jackson
Skills:

• Combat – 1
• Diplomacy – 3
• Awareness – 5
• Stealth – 0
• Medicine – 0
• Engineering – 0
• Physics – 0

Research
None so far.

Connections
Senator Matthew Harrison of Oklahoma (Father)
Currently in his 3rd term and ranking member of the Committee for Small Business and Entrepeneurship, your father spent most of his life in politics and has cultivated many contacts in Washington. One day, he wants you to inherit that network.

Administrator of FEMA Catherine McAllister
Having been briefed on the dangers that the Stargate Command has been founded to protect against, she is very clearly aware of what kind of devastation a Goa'uld attack on Earth could mean. As a result, she is extremely supportive of your efforts and will both have her agency assist you as good as possible, and use her political influence in your favor.

Known Planets

Other Information
None so far.

Rules

Traits, Advantage & Luck
This quest uses rules loosely based on the FATE system. On the strategic and tactical scale, the roll mechanics differ, but both scales share the Trait mechanics. Characters, locations, or any other thing can have Traits, which can either help or hinder certain actions. A Trait always bestows a bonus or malus when applicable to an action, but it can also be used actively by burning it or spending a Luck point. When doing so, you can either gain Advantage on a roll, meaning you roll twice and take the better result, or force your enemy to have a Disadvantage, meaning they roll twice and take the worse result. Luck points can also be spent to temporarily remove the malus given by a negative Trait or to negate a Luck point spent by an enemy. Burning a trait removes it permanently, while spending a Luck point means the trait remains active.

Luck points are gained whenever you manage to score a major victory, or suffer a major setback. You also gain Luck points whenever a negative Trait is created or a positive Trait is lost, except if you burned it. If you have no Luck points, you can at any point decide to gain one by also gaining a Misfortune point. A Misfortune point can be used by any enemy against you as if it was a Luck point. You can also spend a Luck point to buy off a Misfortune point.

Strategic / Base Management
During turn-votes, you manage the base of Stargate Command, send teams on missions, start research projects and do various other tasks necessary to keep the lights on and your head free of slaving alien parasites.

Missions
To perform Missions, you send SG teams or other groups, whose stats and equipment decide over success or failure. Usually this will mean sending an SG team on a scouting mission to an unknown planet, or to follow up on leads or opportunities gained through other missions or events. Most missions will only last a single turn, but some assignments might lock in a team for multiple turns.

The mechanics and rolls done during missions are explained in the following section.

Command
Command actions centre around the daily work you have to do to keep the project running or to expand its capabilities. Expanding your base, procuring new equipment, recruiting new personnel or vying for influence in Washington all fall under Command. You get a certain number of dice to spend each turn and can allocate as many to any single action as you wish. Each dice adds 1 + 1 FATE dice of progress to the action and once it reaches the required progress, it completes successfully. In addition, roll 4 FATE dice to determine if any positive or negative random events occur for this action. Having am applicable beneficial Trait adds +2 to this random event roll. Take note that having many active actions means that you also will do many random event rolls. For good or ill.

Research
These actions centre on learning more about the things you discovered during missions, adapting alien technology for your use or trying to devise new ones. These actions function analogues to Command actions, with two important differences. For one, you don't know ahead of time how much progress you will require to finish a project. Additionally, once you invest a given number of dice into a research action, they will be locked in. You can interrupt a research action to regain these dice without finishing it, but doing so will remove two turns worth of progress from the action due to the interruption.

Tactical / Missions
During missions, the deciding factor for most actions are the Skills and Traits of the characters or teams you have sent. Some traits from your base (such as equipment in the armoury) or completed research action might also impact the outcome of missions. The skills are ranked on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 meaning untrained, 2 being proficient, 4 denoting expert status in the relevant field, 6 being world renowned for that particular skill, and anything beyond being reserved for heroes and geniuses as there are only a few in the galaxy.

The skills are:

• Combat – General skill at fighting with or without weapons.
• Diplomacy – Resolving combat by talking.
• Awareness – Used for scouting and to learn hidden information.
• Stealth – Infiltrating enemy bases unseen.
• Medicine – Healing wounded and conduction medical research.
• Engineering – Building, maintaining and researching physical devices.
• Physics – Abstract physics as they are used by many advanced technologies.

Rolls are either 4 FATE dice + skill +/- traits against a fixed DC or against the roll of an opponent. Sometimes rolls can be made cooperatively (which is usually the case in combat), in which case the roll gets the highest skill bonus of the participants, and each additional participants adds half their skill (rounded down).