"All three of the civilians are not only the best people for completing the survey we require, but all have also passed their firearms' tests. Doctors MacDonald and Wills, in particular, have acquitted themselves well. If we had had any doubts about their fitness for that particular mission, Lieutenant, they would never have gone through the gate."

Sofia did not tend to go into that matter, there were records and reports that stated that those people were easy targets and that was a fact. But the mission had a certain urgent towards it seeing that the time frame was getting longer and longer. If it was a walk in the park, then this would not be required as mission to save another 'skilled' team.

"Well, my wishful thinking aside, our best bet is to tread softly until we know the disposition of our comrades and the enemy in relation to the same. If they're badly injured we won't be doing ourselves any favors by announcing our presence, or theirs, before we can haul them back to the gate." "Everybody carries a full med kit, night vision, and we go full camo. After dark if we don't have to wait too long for sunset. Efficiency will be the word of the day."

Great full gear, it would only slow their progress towards the gate. In this Sofia kept her mouth shut and let the General judge the situation for himself. She leans backwards in the chair and looked over the file again.

Mere listened to the voices bouncing about the room and took it all in. SG 13 were ideally suited for a little recon, it had already been established that the military men of the group were beyond reproach on their skills. As for the Doctors, they were handy enough, and although she stood by her assessment that another gun hand wouldn’t have been amiss on the manifest, she took point in the Generals comment that they were proficient enough to be considered suitable.

Jaffa camps that close to the gate wasn’t a total surprise, from what she’d seen planet side, most civilisations were built close enough to the gates for easy access, and the Jaffa and Goa’uld seemed as obsessed as anyone else at being nearby to the Stargates. The fact they were mostly on the defensive given the infighting, meant the chances of meeting a random patrol was reduced.

Course that led the mind back round to the whole mystery of where the hell SG-13 had vanished to.

Clearing her throat, she waited for Taft to finish speaking, “If I may Sir, I agree that a quiet approach is the best way to move forward. Whilst they might be shoring up, I don’t doubt the local’s aren’t sending out patrols to check out the competition – The UAV might not have shown much activity but I reckon we ought to be prepared for an unwelcoming party, if they have our guys, I’d say it would turn their attentions back to the gate”

She fell quiet again, pondering over the potential that a fire fight was in her immediate future, she had no real urge to get shot again, least of all by those staffs the Snake Heads were toting.

Cover of night was sounding smart, if you ignored the notion that you were in the dark surrounded by potential enemies. Funny thing how a primal fear of the dark never really went away, especially when you knew the monsters were real.

_________________
"You'll shoot him, I'll save him, they'll question him and everyone goes home happy"

"Well, my wishful thinking aside, our best bet is to tread softly until we know the disposition of our comrades and the enemy in relation to the same. If they're badly injured we won't be doing ourselves any favors by announcing our presence, or theirs, before we can haul them back to the gate." "Everybody carries a full med kit, night vision, and we go full camo. After dark if we don't have to wait too long for sunset. Efficiency will be the word of the day."

A fully camouflaged night op? Now that was something Joey hadn’t worked on in quite a while. Her sole such experience in the field with that kind of mission had been four years ago, when she was deployed in Afghanistan. Even then, it had been a fairly light bit of nighttime demolition work with little potential for enemy contact. This was a whole different scale, on top of being in an entirely different sort of environment as compared to the sweaty, stanky desert town she’d once snuck around in.

The other sergeant spoke up after Taft was finished. “If I may Sir, I agree that a quiet approach is the best way to move forward. Whilst they might be shoring up, I don’t doubt the local’s aren’t sending out patrols to check out the competition – The UAV might not have shown much activity but I reckon we ought to be prepared for an unwelcoming party, if they have our guys, I’d say it would turn their attentions back to the gate.”

Fair point as well. The last mention of the Goa’uld turning their attention back to the stargate if SG-13 really was captured struck her as more worrying than anything else about this mission. By now the snakes had to have figured out that the SGC was adamantly against leaving anyone behind, and they were smart enough to exploit any information they had on an enemy. Considering what else they happened to know of human tactics… the whole thing was starting to quietly scream trap.

Just a moment after Blake had finished vocalizing her thoughts, Davidson opened her mouth yet again. ”If SG-13 is actually captured, then our lovely snake friends probably waiting for us to come rescue them,” she pointed out. ”Wouldn’t be surprising if the area around the gate was left clear intentionally, but one klick out there’ll be some massive ambush of Jaffa to try to kill us or lock us up too.” It would be rather theatrical and out of the blue--exactly how the Goa’uld liked to operate.

Leaning back slightly, she threw her head back and started pondering the possibilities. ”Well, that’s assuming they actually were captured and they’re just not lost in the woods.” Even if they were just lost, though, the question of why they hadn’t answered attempts to contact them when the UAV was sent still worried Joey. ”In any case, going in quiet sounds like the best option. Even if we might be walking into a trap.” She made a mental note to find a nice hiding spot for a knife somewhere in her underwear before they embarked.

Just in case.

((OOC: Taft will be leading the mission briefing from here on in, Hammond will interject when necessary.))

"Right, heavily armed and lightly packed is exactly what I had in mind, Blake. We'll take the medical hip-bags to ensure we have all the med supplies our medic here will need no matter what condition the other team is in, light backpacks with a doubled ammunition allocation, spare batteries and a back up night vision unit so we can equip the other team should we be extracting under cover of darkness. I'll bring some explosives, a couple of claymores. Everybody is packing three fragmentation grenades." Taft nodded to Blake, passing over the silent French woman next to her since she didn't seem to have anything constructive to say.

Then he turned to Davidson. "If the Jaffa have brain one, both sides will be watching the gate in case the other has reinforcements coming through but that will be just as effective at spotting us and may have something to do with why the other team is missing. I have no expectations that our arrival or exit will go completely unnoticed, my hope is that we will be able to successfully disappear for the duration of our visit."

He listened as the redhead continued her valid concerns but ended up giving her a smile of amusement. "There's an excellent chance that there is a trap somewhere in all of this but don't worry, that's why they're sending a Marine. I'll keep you safe." He turned his head to address all of them at once next. "Stay sharp, do what I say, and I'll keep all of you as safe as an armed incursion into disputed yet mutually hostile territory will allow."

"When you put on your gear do whatever you have to do to ensure that nothing rattles, sloshes, thumps, or clicks in your gear. Strap down tight, wrap your items in t-shirts, and fill your canteens to the brim. Give it all a little jump test. When you reach the gate I'll give you a good shake to be double sure. I'm going to pack a USAS-12 Shotgun, have the quartermasters outfit your P-90's with suppressors, I have a silencer for my sidearm in case we need to do some light clean up along the way. Whatever you were before you walked into this room, you are walking through the gate temporary members of Marine Recon. Swift. Silent. Deadly. Do you have any questions?"

"If the Jaffa have brain one, both sides will be watching the gate in case the other has reinforcements coming through but that will be just as effective at spotting us and may have something to do with why the other team is missing. I have no expectations that our arrival or exit will go completely unnoticed, my hope is that we will be able to successfully disappear for the duration of our visit."

Sofia winks at that comment and looked at the Sergeant Major and shrugs as she thought it over. The Jaffa were not the folks to be the zombies of the Goa'uld, they were perfect tactical officers. This was something that did not fitted fine with her.

"....Do you have any questions?"

So many, so many "No sir, only question is when can we leave as time might be running out for SG-13" Sofia stated letting any discussion behind for now. She did not want to be corrected or put in her place by the General again. It would be a waste of time anyway, policy in the USA is quite different then in her country.

No sooner had she shut her mouth, the Captain to her right jumped back into the conversation, her points valid and logical.

Allowing a hint of a smile at the idea that they were going to find the lost team turned about in the trees, Mere turned her head nodded her agreement at the notion that this could all well be a Goa’uld attempt at a ‘not so surprising because we already figured it out’ ambush.

She listened to Taft as he reeled of the equipment list: Medical hip bags for all would increase the supplies but keep down the amount she was forced to lug about. As much as she loved having all that she needed to keep a man going till the white coats could get stuck in, there was only so much loading she could take before she felt like a glorified hospital donkey.
Everything else seemed perfect – Enough fire power to take out pretty much anything they were likely to encounter, and explosives to put the candle on the cake. Pretty much the party package.

Raising an eyebrow at the mental image of them all being shaken six ways to Sunday by the SgtMjr to test for bits that moved, she let the thought slip off to the wayside, replaced by the small lump of apprehension that hunkered down in her gut.

No matter how many times she’d been out as part of a combat group, how many times she’d left a room, even this room, knowing that there was no real knowing about what was going to happen; she still got that first time heavy stomach. Still a good soldier knew not to let that feeling get in the way, a great soldier ensured that heaviness kept them grounded and level, a realist realised she was hungry and would have to grab something before suiting up.

“None, let’s go bring them home” Mere added her acknowledgement of a robust sounding plan of action.

Closing the dossier in front of her, Mere sat a little straighter and waited to see if anything else was left to say before they could get out there.

_________________
"You'll shoot him, I'll save him, they'll question him and everyone goes home happy"

"Do you have any questions?"

Joey shook her head and slapped her dossier closed, tossing it forward onto the table. "Not one."

She briefly found the idea of taking a rapid-fire assault shotgun into a stealth operation rather... odd, but didn't bother to question the man. After 15 years in the Marine Corps, he probably knew best on these sort of things. "Ready to load up and blow this joint, Sarge."

Taft looked at the french officer and raised an eyebrow. "As soon as you can get geared up and grace the rest of us with your presence in the gate room, princess." He shook his head and then stood. "Everybody, gear up and beat me to the gate room. Double time, move." He said the last bit in a conversational volume but it was clear he meant it as he turned and strode out of the room, making his way to the quartermaster to requisition the ordinance he wanted.