Reaching for the Stars - A Stargate Quest

Reaching for the Stars - A Stargate Quest
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You are Major General James Harrison. Your father wanted you to become a politician like him, but instead you stuck with the military and now lead a top secret project for the US Space Force.

Manage the Stargate Program and defend Earth against the dangers of the galaxy and the tyrants that rule over it.
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Children of the Gods - Part 1
Location
Germany
Children of the Gods – Part 1

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.

Advantages
Combined Arms
You have a large pool of vehicles to draw from and both the doctrine and training to put them to good use. The only hurdle to clear is to somehow get said vehicles to the Gate and to convince your superiors that such deployments are reasonable.

Low Scrutiny
The Army was picked for the Stargate Command in part because it managed to sell itself as the most reasonable and level-headed options. As a result, people in Washington are less likely to pry into matters in Cheyenne Mountain unless you give them reason to.

Disadvantage
Bad Neighbours
Due to some snide comments during the negotiations, the Space Force did not take it well that they lost control of the Stargate to the Army. And since they are still in charge of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex above the Stargate Command, they have plenty of opportunity to meddle in its affairs.

[] [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.

Advantages
Expeditionary Force
The Marines have been operating alone, with little support and far from home on hostile ground since their inception. Your soldiers will barely notice the difference between being dropped on some remote beach on Earth or an alien planet.

Every Marine a Rifleman
The Marines traditionally train all personal as infantry combatants. As a result, the Stargate Complex will be very well defended, and you don't have to worry so much about support personal being at risk when going through the Gate.

Disadvantage
Fish out of Water
The coast is far away from Colorado and so are the bases and assets the corps is built around. Worse yet, you are quite reliant on the Navy for a lot of things. You will not only have to manage the Stargate Command, but also put some effort into developing the logistics train to support it.

[] [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.

Advantages
Loose Structure
The Air Force has traditionally been less rigid and giving lots of leeway to many of its force members, especially officers in frontline roles. As a result, your soldiers are more comfortable to make difficult choices in the field and are better at improvising and adapting on the fly.

Connections
Many in the top ranks of the Air Force still don't like to have lost part of their mandate to the new Space Force and the Stargate Program is seen as the best way to revert that development. Plenty of people in high positions want you to succeed and are willing to make some calls or write a few nice emails on your behalf to make that happen.

Disadvantage
Increased Scrutiny
The Space Force wasn't created on a whim. The Air Force has a history of neglecting anything that isn't their preferred type of aircraft at the time and many in Washington are just waiting for a screw-up that proves they are doing so again.

[] [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.

Advantages
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.

Disadvantage
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.

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.
 
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Current Situation
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
Name Description Traits
Stargate Command – Cheyenne Mountain Complex
Control Room The room from which Earths Stargate is monitored and controlled.
  • Jury-Rigged Control Systems – It's a testament to the ingenuity and skill of your scientists that you managed to active the Stargate at all, but the system was none the less kludged together by trial and error.
  • Self-Destruct Mechanism – There are three armed nuclear warheads placed in a hidden sub-level of the base. The system can be armed or disarmed by two commissioned officers and, if initiated, will destroy the entire base.
Gate Room The room housing the actual Stargate.
  • Heavy Machine Guns and Fire Teams – There's two M2 heavy machine guns with ballistic shields and sandbag reinforced firing positions in the gate room, ensuring that any threat coming through the gate can be greeted with a hail of gunfire.
  • Iris – A set of metal blades that can be extended from the Stargate to block incoming mater from reforming. As long as it is closed, it will stop any conventional attack.
Infirmary The place injured and sick members of the SGC go to for treatment.
  • Well-Equipped Infirmary – With a large number of beds, dedicated isolation rooms, state-of-the-art diagnostic machinery and a large, well-educated staff, your infirmary can give a level of care equal to any hospital.
Barracks Quarters for your soldiers.
  • Minimal Accommodations – Only bunk beds and very basic amenities are available. Soldiers only stay here if they absolutely must or are on-call, while everyone else lives in Colorado Springs.
Diesel Generators Provides power for the base.  
Armoury Contains the weaponry you have available for your teams.
  • Standardized Infantry Equipment – You've set up contracts to give you an ample supply of a default kit that has shown itself effective against Jaffa warriors.
    • Pistol: SIG Sauer M17
    • Submachine Gun: FN P90
    • Rifle: M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle
    • Light Machine Gun: M249 Light Machine Gun
    • Small trial stock of XM5 rifles.
    • Night Vision Goggles: ENVG-III
    • Gun Sights: FWS-I
  • MALPs - A small, threaded drone equipped with various sensors to assess the atmospheric conditions on a planet and to transmit video material back to the base.
Laboratories Workspace and specialized equipment for your science staff.
  • Basic Laboratories – You have a number of work rooms and access to some high-end computer hardware.
Abydos Outpost
Gate Area An open area dug into a dune that houses the gate.
  • Heavy Machine Guns and Fire Teams – There's four M2 heavy machine guns and reinforced firing positions made from HESCO barriers and sandbags that have a direct line of fire to the gate.
  • No Man's Land – The area before the gate has no cover for 400 meters and has mines and concertina wire traps placed to break up any attempts to charge the firing positions.

Personell
  • Status: Ready

    Major Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill
    Skills:
    • Combat – 4
    • Diplomacy – 2
    • Awareness – 3
    • Stealth – 3
    • Medicine – 1
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0

    Technical Sergeant Patricia Atkins
    Skills:
    • Combat – 3
    • Diplomacy – 1
    • Awareness – 1
    • Stealth – 1
    • Medicine – 1
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0

    Specialist Mark Bashir
    Skills:
    • Combat – 2
    • Diplomacy – 0
    • Awareness – 0
    • Stealth – 0
    • Medicine – 0
    • Engineering – 1
    • Physics – 1

    Specialist Caleb Hartman
    Skills:
    • Combat – 2
    • Diplomacy – 0
    • Awareness – 1
    • Stealth – 0
    • Medicine – 0
    • Engineering – 1
    • Physics – 0
    1 Specialist
  • Status: Ready
    Captain Louis Feretti
    Ready
    Skills:
    • Combat – 4
    • Diplomacy – 3
    • Awareness – 2
    • Stealth – 1
    • Medicine – 1
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0
    4 Specialists
  • Status: Ready
    Sergeant John Yi
    Skills:
    • Combat – 3
    • Diplomacy – 1
    • Awareness – 1
    • Stealth – 2
    • Medicine – 0
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0

    Specialist Ronald Apgar
    Skills:
    • Combat – 2
    • Diplomacy – 0
    • Awareness – 0
    • Stealth – 1
    • Medicine – 0
    • Engineering – 1
    • Physics – 1

    Specialist Kevin Haney
    Skills:
    • Combat – 2
    • Diplomacy – 0
    • Awareness – 0
    • Stealth – 1
    • Medicine – 0
    • Engineering – 1
    • Physics – 1

    Specialist Kathleen McGee
    Skills:
    • Combat – 2
    • Diplomacy – 0
    • Awareness – 0
    • Stealth – 1
    • Medicine – 0
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 1

    Specialist Albert Davis
    Skills:
    • Combat – 2
    • Diplomacy – 0
    • Awareness – 0
    • Stealth – 1
    • Medicine – 1
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0
  • Captain Charles Kawalski
    Status: Wounded
    Skills:
    • Combat – 4
    • Diplomacy – 2
    • Awareness – 1
    • Stealth – 3
    • Medicine – 1
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0

    Teal'c
    Status: Wounded
    Languages: Goa'uld, no English
    Skills:
    • Combat – 5
    • Diplomacy – 0
    • Awareness – 1
    • Stealth – 3
    • Medicine – 0
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0
    1 Specialist - Wounded
    1 Specialist - Wounded
  • Master Sergeant Tonya Walt
    Died in the Battle of Abydos
    Skills:
    • Combat – 4
    • Diplomacy – 1
    • Awareness – 2
    • Stealth – 3
    • Medicine – 1
    • Engineering – 0
    • Physics – 0

    Technical Sergeant Ethan Foster (formerly SG-2)
    Died in the Battle of Abydos
    Skills:
    • Combat – 3
    • Diplomacy – 1
    • Awareness – 0
    • Stealth – 0
    • Medicine – 1
    • Engineering – 1
    • Physics – 1

    Special Mike Tenant (formerly SG-2)
    Died in the Battle of Abydos


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
Arrangement: planet, trinary system, no moons
Climate: BWh - hot desert climate
Settled: Humans
Control: Abydonians / Stargate Command
Points of Interest: Naquadah mines
Exploration Status: ground exploration near Stargate, cordial contact to natives
Traits:
  • Goodwill – The people remember your fast and generous support in the wake of their forced displacement and as a result are very open to diplomatic requests from Stargate Command.
  • Numbered Days – The population must be evacuated or supplied with water by turn 12 or they will have to disperse, which will likely cause a sharp decline in population.
Notable People:
  • Dr. Daniel Jackson - Former member of Project Lodestone and the person who managed to active Earths Stargate and dial to Abydos. Now a influential person among the Abydonians. Married to Sha're, daughter of Kasuf, and father of a young boy named Kasuf after his grandfather.
  • Kasuf - Current leader of the settled Abydonians.
  • Skaara - Brother-in-law of Daniel Jackson and son of Kasuf. Current leader of the Abydos militia and likely the next leader of the Abydonians at large once Kasuf retires or dies.

The only planet that was visited by the original Project Lodestone and the first to be visited by the new Stargate Command. Formerly a colony of Ra, it became independent after the System Lord was killed in Abydos orbit. Briefly under the control of Apophis, but the small Goa'uld presence was driven off in the Battle of Abydos.
Arrangement: planet, two moons
Climate: A - Tropical
Settled: no
Control: unclaimed
Points of Interest: city ruins (Goa'uld vassal state)
Exploration Status: ground exploration near Stargate

According to the information from the pyramid on Abydos, this planet once rebelled against Ra and as a punishment, he sunk their great city into the sea, killing all who lived there. After scouting, it seems certain that the settlements was devastated by orbital bombardment, which also destroyed all freshwater sources on the tropical island the city was located on, thus making it unfit for long-term settlement. Texts found in the ruins reference a gift that the people of the city wanted to make Ra and that he was greatly angered by it, but it is unclear what this gift was.
Arrangement: unknown
Climate: ET - Tundra
Settled: unknown
Control: unknown
Points of Interest: presumed to contain ruins of prior settlement
Exploration Status: ground exploration in immediate Stargate vicinity

In the past, this planet was losing the grace of Ra and thus the warmth of the sun, prompting the people do abandon it to be closer to their god. It is unclear from your brief exploration what the cause was, but it is clear that the climate must have dramatically cooled at some point, prompting the people to abandon the planet.
Arrangement: planet, rings
Climate: C - Temperate
Settled: no
Control: unclaimed
Points of Interest: ruins of prior settlement, unknown source of gamma radiation bursts
Exploration Status: ground exploration near Stargate

According to the pyramid inscriptions, this planet once was one of Ra's most beloved gardens and only his most favored servants lived there. But after one of them sinned against their god, he cast them all out and struck down all who dared to defy that decree. After a brief visit, you now know that the 'curse of Ra' is a sporadic event of intense gamma radiation that would easily kill a human and even damaged electronics. Any further exploration would require either hardened drones or be done under extreme risk for the teams sent there.

Other Information
None so far.
 
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Rules
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).
 
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I think we should just go with the army, not sure about the rest, but I would rather worry about our neighbors than Washington, the latter have far more pull than the former. We can smooth over their ruffled feathers eventually I hope.
 
@Azel, I presume this is plan voting?

[X] Plan Space Talking
-[X] Chad Clinton
-[X] [Background] … Military Attaché.
-[X] [Branch] … the US Space Force
-[X] [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.
-[X] [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.


So I want to diverge from the show, and "let's try talking, actual coalition-building, and doing John Brown in space" seems like a fun change of pace. Also less reliant on having a single squad of protagonists who can defeat alien empires.
Space Force is the obvious pick, not only because creating it is the coolest thing the US has done in decades but also because I like the idea of making the Space Force's main program focus on diplomacy and exploration. This could potentially do interesting things to the culture of the new organization, instead of just making it into "a somehow boring tech arms race with China" or whatever it's doing IRL these days.
At the very least, even if we end up doing Nicaragua in space we'll probably be fighting slavery in the process, so it's less terrible than what the other branches get up to.

Action choices: linguists will come in useful, and IMO it's an important first note to strike. Meanwhile talking to the commander will be politically important, and if we suddenly get a combat encounter in 24 hours we'll be happy to have easy communications with the military base above our heads. And reinforcements, hopefully.

Any better name suggestions? This one seems more fitting for the political dynasty background, but I wasn't super inspired and wanted to get this plan out fast.
 
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[X] Connected and Space
-[X] [Name] James Harrison
-[X] [Background] … son of a political dynasty.
-[X] [Branch] … the US Space Force

-[X] [Orders] Get more soldiers and some heavy weapons to defend the Stargate in case the aliens return.
-[X] [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.
 
[X] Plan Space Talking

You know I wonder if coalition might not turn into empire with these options, they often do after all. Just look at Athens' Trade Leagues. From what I recall of the universe it seems like a good comparisons.
 
You know I wonder if coalition might not turn into empire with these options, they often do after all. Just look at Athens' Trade Leagues. From what I recall of the universe it seems like a good comparisons.
It's not out of question that you can get an empire going in space, but that will need a lot of dedicated effort and won't happen on accident.

That being said, if you actually want to go down that route, you should keep in mind that Congress might take exception if you act like a 19th century colonial power. Or your own personell for that matter.
 
It's not out of question that you can get an empire going in space, but that will need a lot of dedicated effort and won't happen on accident.

That being said, if you actually want to go down that route, you should keep in mind that Congress might take exception if you act like a 19th century colonial power. Or your own personell for that matter.
Thats why we need connections and then colonize a world we can harvest for technology, so no super primitive planets unless they have precursor tech on em. :p
Assuming we try that route anyways.
Congress definitely will hesitate stopping us if were harvesting high tech.
 
I know the perfect Branch to vote for!

... So I'm having a problem finding where the Navy Branch vote is. Anyone seen it? :p

Guess I have to fall back on this for the mean time...
[X] Connected and Space
 
It's not out of question that you can get an empire going in space, but that will need a lot of dedicated effort and won't happen on accident.

That being said, if you actually want to go down that route, you should keep in mind that Congress might take exception if you act like a 19th century colonial power. Or your own personell for that matter.

One would hope so, but given that the whole thing is secret and any pressure has to come from within the state apparatus and not from public pressure I think we will be getting at least some push to... explore new avenues of making profit. I fully expect corporate interests to be a significant pressure group on us. I mean just look at how some are drooling at the thought of Mars.... Mars, a radioactive wasteland with basically no atmosphere. An arbitrary number of earth-like planets with a human population in place is going to be a lot more messy.
 
I know the perfect Branch to vote for!

... So I'm having a problem finding where the Navy Branch vote is. Anyone seen it? :p

Guess I have to fall back on this for the mean time...
[X] Connected and Space
Closest available option is the Marines. Other than that, the Navy will show up once you get into the fancier tech options.
One would hope so, but given that the whole thing is secret and any pressure has to come from within the state apparatus and not from public pressure I think we will be getting at least some push to... explore new avenues of making profit. I fully expect corporate interests to be a significant pressure group on us. I mean just look at how some are drooling at the thought of Mars.... Mars, a radioactive wasteland with basically no atmosphere. An arbitrary number of earth-like planets with a human population in place is going to be a lot more messy.
So far, space is unpolluted by capitalism, but you can certainly change that. :V

Edit: Vote is currently tied. Going to close it once there's been a tie-breaker.
Adhoc vote count started by Azel on Jun 16, 2022 at 12:13 PM, finished with 21 posts and 12 votes.

  • [X] Plan Space Talking
    -[X] Chad Clinton
    -[X] [Background] … Military Attaché.
    -[X] [Branch] … the US Space Force
    -[X] [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.
    -[X] [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.
    [X] Connected and Space
    -[X] [Name] James Harrison
    -[X] [Background] … son of a political dynasty.
    -[X] [Branch] … the US Space Force
    -[X] [Orders] Get more soldiers and some heavy weapons to defend the Stargate in case the aliens return.
    -[X] [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.
 
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Vote closed.

Adhoc vote count started by Azel on Jun 16, 2022 at 2:30 PM, finished with 23 posts and 13 votes.

  • [X] Connected and Space
    -[X] [Name] James Harrison
    -[X] [Background] … son of a political dynasty.
    -[X] [Branch] … the US Space Force
    -[X] [Orders] Get more soldiers and some heavy weapons to defend the Stargate in case the aliens return.
    -[X] [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.
    [X] Plan Space Talking
    -[X] Chad Clinton
    -[X] [Background] … Military Attaché.
    -[X] [Branch] … the US Space Force
    -[X] [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.
    -[X] [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.
 
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