Slow Your Roll, Crow!

Posted on Sat Mar 9th, 2019 @ 8:05pm by Major Jacob Asher & Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Corvus

Mission: Aftermath
Location: Project New Dawn, Cheyenne Mountain
Timeline: Current

Jake was walking down the corridor from the control room to review footage from a few worlds that the Geek Squad had sent probes too, when he saw Corvus geared up, and armed, bearing down on him. Jake had no idea what was going on, but if this was something official, he would know, so clearly it wasn't.

"Sergeant!" Jake said, blocking the PJ's path. "Stand. Down. Right. Now."

"Sir," Jeremy said, stopping short of where the Major stood, his hands resting easy on the rifle. It was a natural gesture, from someone used to long periods of carrying a rifle. But he stopped, jaw clenched and trembling. "Got something I need to do, sir," he said, looking past Jake to the doorway leading to the Gate room.

"I'm getting that," Jake said. "And since you're geared up, I'm guessing you want to go through the gate. Where are you planning to go? Lethuan? I doubt it. Shae isn't with you. Do you have authorization from Wolf for an off-world trip? I doubt it. Which means the Shift Leader in the Control Room isn't going to run the dialing computer for you. You don't have the authorization codes to activate it yourself, Crow. What's your plan? Point your carbine at the folks in the control room and threaten to kill them if they don't open the gate? Then what? Let's say they open the gate. Then what? They'll shut it down the moment you're not pointing a gun at them anymore, lock down the gateroom, and call the SFs and tell them a homicidal maniac is trying to get off-world. You prepare to shoot it out with the SFs? These guys and gals were drawn from 820th BDG. Most of them are Ranger trained, not to mention the Phoenix Ravens in the squadron, and all of the other specialized combat training they've got. You prepared for that?"

Jake looked Corvus in the eyes. "And then there's me, Crow. I like you, I do. More than that, I respect you. Saving Yu? That took balls. Really big brass ones. But I can't let you pass if I think you're going to hurt someone. So unless you're prepared to kill me, stand down and let's talk about what's bothering you. We've shed the same blood in the same mud...or sand, as the case may be. Let's go to my office and hash this out. Stand down, disarm, and let's go somewhere and talk before someone calls the SFs and this thing escalates."

As the Major spoke, Jeremy's jaw clenched tighter as he worked to keep his anger wound and contained. "Sir!" he said, almost a bark, "I'm not you, Major! I would rather die before I caused harm to any of my brothers" and the sudden image of Ree and her complaints about treatment in the service came to him, causing him to quickly add "and sisters. If it's the weapons that concern you, Major, I'll stow them until I come back. But, I need to do a reconnaisance and discover the truth about some things I was told." He looked at the analysts. Had he scared any of them? Did any of them think he would put them down like a rabid dog as the Major would?

He let out an angry exhalation. "I didn't realize I needed permission to go through the Gate, though it does make sense, Major. How do I get that permission?"

"You're really not listening, Crow," Jake said. "In this case, you don't get permission. Get this through your head: You. Are. Not. Returning. To. That. Planet. Period. It's off-limits until Wolf decides differently and and he has made it known that discussion on the matter of returning to that planet is discouraged in the strongest terms possible."

Jake took a breath to calm down. Then spoke again.

"All current evidence to the contrary, you're not a complete idiot, Crow," Jake said. "You don't need to go back there to see what happened. You already know what happened. Exactly what would have happened to you if Shae hadn't lied to you to keep you on mission, what might happened to us if you lost focus. And don't give me that crap about not harming your comrades in arms, because if Shae had told you the truth, I have no doubt you would have abandoned us in a heartbeat. You would have impulsively run off and gotten yourself killed. More importantly, your absence could have resulted in the death of one or more members of the team. And for what? Thousands of Yu Zhanshi were turning on him. Thousands of Ba'al's Jaffa were landing in transports. Death Gliders and bombers were strafing everywhere. You wanna know what happened? I'll save you the trip. A lot of Yu's people were killed and the rest are probably slaves to Ba'al or whatever one of his lower echelon snakeheads he left in charge of Very Big And Round. So the people who survived went from being slaves and a source for hosts for Yu, to being slaves and a source of hosts and probably Jaffa for someone else."

Jake glanced over Jeremy's shoulder and saw a group of SFs had gathered and were seriously considering shooting Jeremy.

"Crow," Jake said. "You're pissed off and armed to the teeth. You're making people nervous. Somebody called Security. I am pretty sure if you make any sudden, remotely threatening moves, one or more of those SFs are going to shoot you. Disarm, slowly." Jake waved one of the SFs over. The others adjust position so they could shoot Jeremy without hitting Jake or the SF approaching. "Hand this nice Senior Airman your weapons. Pistol, too. Then take off your harness and let's go somewhere and talk. I think you need to hear what Wolf's plans are, how we're actually going to go out there and help people who need support to stand up to the Goa'uld. Or, if these guys don't shoot you, they'll arrest you and we'll sort this out after they're done with you. Your call, but make it quick."

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Jeremy said, "even if that's causing someone to shoot me." He glanced over his shoulder and saw Arcadia and Bellows and closed his eyes. "I'll disarm, slowly, not a problem, Major." He started, making sure to keep the barrel of the rifle pointed down and away from anyone but himself, using his left hand to start removing the sling from around his shoulder. Holding the rifle by the top, he straightened his arm to the side and waited for the rifle to be taken from him.

Only then did he move again and this was to put his hands behind his head and sink to his knees, crossing his feet at the ankles. "I also have a backup on my left ankle," he said to whoever moved in to take his sidearm off him. He heard a murmured thanks, felt his ankle checked and the gun removed. Once he heard the SF move back, he slowly began taking off his vest. Once that was dropped, he again stood for the pat down and muttered "holy grail" when he'd forgot about his pocket knife.

The threat of him, well, the threat of him having weapons at any rate - he was still a capable warfighter unarmed and everyone knew it. The great part is, except for those watching from the control room, they were all great unarmed combatants. And two of his friends were here, watching all this and what must they be thinking? That he was trying to hurt someone? That he snapped. His CO was in front of him, he said he was understanding, but he wasn't giving a stand down order to the SF that Jeremy wasn't a threat. All he wanted was to check the claims made. Claims that couldn't be true. He still had his hands on his head, wanting to make sure he wasn't a threat - wanting to make sure no SF felt they had to shoot him and then live with that later.

"Nobody could be that cruel, Major. Nobody!" He wanted to say more - how the village wasn't even near the stronghold and there was no reason to bomb it. Taking slaves was horrible, but that happened quite often and nowhere near as bad as senseless slaughter for no other reason than slaughter. There was so much he wanted to say, but it was all so damned secret and he didn't know how much the people behind him could be told, how much he could reveal. It was better to say nothing at all. "I'm feeling a little naked here, Major, we good? Are you comfortable with them standing down?"

"Sure, Crow," Jake waved off the SFs. He turned to the leader of the group. "I'd consider it a favor if this got handled quietly, Sergeant. I know that's a lot to ask, but I'm asking anyway."

The master sergeant looked from Jake to Corvus, and back at Jake. "Two tours each, Iraq and Afghanistan. Both perimeter security and patrols outside of the wire to pick up the Army's slack. I heard shit went pear shaped when you guys were off world. That can get to the best of us. We're good, but get him straightened out please, sir. Because if he does this again, or hurts himself or someone else, you and me are both fucked."

Jake nodded. "Thank you, Sergeant. I'll do that." Jake turned to Jeremy. "Stand up, Crow, and come with me. That's an order. We're going to my office, we're going to sit down, and I'm going to tell you how Nathan Wolf is going to straighten this operation out with use of three words that all start with the letter D."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy said with all the attitude he had at his command at the moment, which was quite a bit. Executing an about face, he marched forward, through the ranks of SF without even trying to meet their gaze. But seeing them watching him only stoked the fuel of his anger. Which he kept fanning all the way from the hallway to the Major's office. He didn't know how far the Major was behind him, and didn't care. He went into the office and stood in the center, waiting.

When Asher came in, Jeremy didn't twitch to look at him but, his body still trembling with frustrated fury, said, "Permission to speak freely, sir."

Jake didn't even pause as he passed Jeremy on his way to his desk and sat down in his chair. "So you can what? Vent your spleen at me? No thank you. Denied," Jake said. "Sit your ass down and sit silently until you get your Goddamned temper and your Goddamned mouth under control. This is the Goddamned fucking almighty United States Air Force, not the fucking Peace Corps. When you're ready to behave like a fucking Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, and not an angry teenager, you can speak. But you will not get out of that chair, which you'd better be sitting in when I look up, until you've calmed down and we've had the discussion I intended us to have when I put my ass on the line for you with the SFs."

Jeremy sat, determined that he was calm that he was just fine thank you very much, Major! But he was stiff, feet firmly planted, hands curled into tight fists, clenched hard enough to pop the veins on his forearm. Put his ass on the line? Jeremy though, glaring daggers at the wall over the man's shoulder. No, you just made it so every security force in this base now thinks I'm an unstable nutcase about to snap! Yeah, Shae gets to lie all the...the...the...FUDGE...she wants but he passed on a truth and he has to apologize. He wanted to go do some recon but he gets shut down...oh, but the Major can take his little trollop on a inappropriate gallant around the galaxy. Yeah, put your ass on the line to cover your own damned hypocracy you jackanape!

Jake looked up. "Okay, well, that's a start. Okay, spill, Crow. What the Hell is your problem? And choose your damned words carefully. I'm asking for an explanation, not giving you permission to speak freely."

"Why'd you do that, Major?" he asked, gesturing back the way they'd come. "Now on top of everything else people think about me, security's going to be watching me like some unstable nutcase about ready to snap! You could have told them to stand down, that it was just a mistake! I'm not a threat to anyone here! I was only armed becuase it's protocol when going on a patrol! I told you I'd give them up, would someone wanting to hurt others freely offer to give up their weapons?"

"First," Asher said. "I didn't call Security. Someone else did. Second, if I hadn't asked that hardass Master Sergeant to let this slide, he'd have had your ass in front of Wolf for sure, and immediately following that you would have made a very loud thud when you landed back wherever they got you from. Now what the fuck got the ridiculous notion in your head that you should head back into a war zone BY YOURSELF?"

Jeremy sat back in the chair, shaking his head. "You don't get it, Major, you don't have to live with the laughter-" He pursed his lips then, biting on the bottom one to literally keep his mouth shut. "Never mind, doesn't matter, does it? I wasn't going to a warzone. Not according to Shae. Or, at least one of the lies she told me. According to that lie there's nothing left to for anyone to fight over. Except for the crows, that is." The irony of his nickname and the carrion bird wasn't lost on him in this particular situation. "I had to see for myself, to know what the truth was. To know which lie she was telling." He stared down at his lap then leaned over, rubbing his forehead. Hiding his face behind his hand as best he could.

Jake shook his head. "Warzone, enemy controlled territory, what's the difference? And she's right, there isn't anything left to fight over, because Ba'al won. He had won before the first shot was fired. And what do you mean which lies she was telling? What else do you think she lied to you about? Not answering is not an option, if I even need to say that at this point."

Jeremy knew he was in trouble either way. Not answer, and he was disobeying orders...the very thought of it anathema to him. To answer meant to disparage the woman...to the Major. And it may have only been a few days, but he wasn't an idiot. A man who could casually let someone know that he'd shoot him, to save someone else's life, was the type who took disparaging the object of his affections badly. But, his parents raised him to be obedient to those to whom he's submitted authority and to be honest. "On the planet, she told me they were safe. That the fighting wasn't near them...she...she lied about it! She said..."

He took a hitching breath and sat forward, elbow on his knees and covered his head with his hands. "I can't...stop...I just..." He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched down on his thoughts. Anger, he needed the anger, it was easier. "You punished me, Major, for something I didn't even know I was lying about. And she intentionally lied and...I hate her for it! There was no reason...none!" He clamped down again, just the use of the word 'hate' fueled his anger. Hate served no purpose other than to tear the soul but there it was. He hated her.

"Crow," Jake said. "I'm going to ask you a question and I want you think about it before you answer. Make a no bullshit assessment of your character, of where you are in your career and you development as a combat airman. And then I want an honest, no bull shit answer. If Shae had told you the truth about what was going to happen to those people, what would you have done? Take your time before you answer."

Jeremy still covered his head but shook his head. "Master Sergeant Hassan gave specific orders, Major. He made sure we knew them. He asked each of us. He made sure we knew. I followed those orders. Just like last time."

"That's not an answer Crow," Jake said. "And you're still not getting the point. This isn't about other people's orders or behavior or whatever lies they told or didn't tell. This all about you and only about you. Your question to Shae was unfair, inappropriate, and showed poor judgement and a lack of focus. She gave you the answer that she felt would spare your feelings and keep you from doing something stupid, something that would have gotten you killed. Frankly, if you're going to be a self-centered jackass, I don't care if you get yourself killed. Less problems for me. But see, I'm not a self-centered jackass. I know that if you get yourself killed doing something stupid, you could put the mission and my team at risk, and that I will not tolerate. Yes, Shae lied to you in order to answer a question you should have been smart enough not to ask in the first place, because you already knew the answer. You panicked and instead of putting the mission and your team first, you let yourself get distracted by something you couldn't do anything about. That's not a her problem, that's a you problem, and it's one you're going to have to solve, pronto."

Jake sighed. "Crow, I know I'm being a hardass about this, and you can hate me all you want to for it. But if you don't straighten yourself out, you actually will get yourself and probably other members of your team killed. So I'm ordering you to see Psych Services. You need somewhere you can talk about this with someone who you don't want to punch in the mouth for telling you things you don't want to hear, which is what got you in this mess in the first place. Now, if you're ready to listen, I can explain to you what we're going to be doing differently around here from now on. I think you'll like it, because it's going to let us help people like the ones on Very Big and Round, help them to improve their conditions and to improve their ability to defend themselves against and resist the Goa'uld."

"Will it lead to us killing Ba'al and everyone like him?" Jeremy asked, simply.

Jake shrugged. "Maybe one day. For now, though, we're going to take some baby steps. We're going to explore what's out there and we're going to help whatever humans, and others we encounter who need help to resist or rise up against the Goa'uld with whatever support we can provide. Advisors, trainers, teachers. Engineers, infrastructure. Medical supplies, weapons, etc. We're going to form alliances with whatever of those groups we can, as well as more advanced groups. We're going to engage in trade where we can. Resources, materials, manufactured goods, advanced technology and the knowledge of how it works. We're going to form strong relationships with anyone who opposes or wants to oppose the Goa'uld. And while we're doing all of this, we're going to engage in an irregular warfare campaign against the Goa'uld where we can do so effectively without taking any unnecessary risks. We're going to disrupt their operations. Weaken them, force them to divide their focus between their struggles with each other and with their rebellious slaves and with us...and with whatever else is attacking them. I suspect there's something out there already splitting their focus. I'm a little afraid of what that is, but we have to deal with the problem in front of us. We can't take the Goa'uld in a head on, stand up fight, but we can hurt them, work on nickle and dimeing them to death while utilizing our soon to be allies as force multipliers. And while all of that is happening, we'll be working on improving our own defenses here so that we'll be better prepared to defend the planet if, or more likely when, we're attacked by the Goa'uld again. Defense satellites, our own Death Glider style fighters. I saw something that seemed to me to be a bomber. I'd sure as Hell like to get my hands on the specs and get some good images of one of those inside and out. If it has the fuel capacity, and we can find one close enough, maybe we can even figure out how to fly one back to Earth so we can reverse engineer one. Maybe one of those transports I saw, too, so we can build something similar. We moved to fast and got in way over our heads on Very Big and Round because Nathan inherited a bad strategic plan from another General. But Nathan's in charge now, and he's convinced the President and the Joint Chiefs to do things his way from here on out."

"Understood, Major," Jeremy said. And he did understand the strategy, because it was very much like the one currently being used in the Mid-East. "What's going to keep this from becoming the quagmire that America is in currently? Or will we pull out because of squeamish politicians just as we're starting to make progress?"

"I have no idea," Jake said. "That's above my pay grade. Yours, too. We have a job to do, a plan on how to do it. But like I said, we're going to go slow and get as much information and as clear an understanding of each situation we're heading into before we get bogged down with anything. Can I guarantee it will work? No. Can I guarantee the government will give us enough time and support to really make this work? No. Can I say with certainty that we have that support for the moment? Yes. And that's really all I can promise you at the moment. Unless you want me to blow smoke up your ass so you have somebody to get angry at if things don't go your way later?"

Despite himself, he blew out a snort of laughter at that. "Could you, would be really appreciated?" But it was late and too much went on. "I didn't want her to tell the truth," he muttered, almost a whisper. "I wanted the lie, Major. Not the truth. Because I can't say you're wrong. I probably would have gone to see what I could have done. I wanted the lie."

Jake nodded. "And that right there is why I'm not just booting you off the team, Crow. Not because you wanted the lie, but because you stopped blaming other people and took responsibility for your actions. If you can keep doing that, and learn from the experiences you have, even the bad ones, you'll do well here."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy muttered. "And we don't get to have free access through the Gate?"

"No," Jake said. "Not even me. I had to ask General Wolf's permission to go off-world like anyone else would, and he only granted that because I was escorting Shae back to her home, which we were fairly certain was a low risk place to go. If I had just wanted to stroll around an area we were almost certain was occupied by enemy forces, like you just tried to do, Wolf would have told me to go piss up a rope."

Jeremy shook his head, trying to clear it of that image. "That's something I should have known. And would have if I'd finished all the homework?"

Jake chuckled. "Yeah, probably. But also, when you were in Afghanistan, did they ever let you 'go on patrol' or do recon by yourself in enemy held territory? If the answer to that is yes, please tell me the name of the officer who gave you permission to do that so I can have Wolf start the process of having the Air Force Chief of Staff drum that guy out of the service."

Shocked, Jeremy sat up and exclaimed, "Not just no, but ech ee double hockey sticks no, sir! I'm no Bergdahl! Ah, hoolies, it's the same thing isn't it? Just on other worlds. I'm not usually this much of an idiot, Major."

Jake grinned. "I assume not, or you'd be dead. Well, I believe you've successfully extracted your head from your ass for the moment. We good here?"

"Yes, sir, thank you. But, you may not care, but it is important to me that you know I would not have even threatened anyone here with a weapon tonight and...I knew better than to go to the village because it would alert them to our presence. Crows are among the smartest animals on the planet." Jeremy, took a deep breath, wondering how that would be taken. He didn't know why, he didn't even like the Major much at the moment, but he wanted to know that this much, at least, the Major trusted in him.

"Crow," Jake said. "I trusted you not to shoot anyone. But you were pissed and you had at least three guns on you. There are a lot of civilians working in this mountain, and a lot of airman, soldiers, and marines from non-combat professions here, too. Angry people with guns make them nervous. I'll have a word with Security and the whole thing will be forgotten by the end of the day, okay? Don't worry yourself over it."

"Yes, sir, I'm dismissed aren't I?" Jeremy asked, sitting on the edge of the chair.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, get outta here. I'll walk out with you. I was on my way to see Nate anyway. We sent a probe through to a planet and we got images of kids. Just kids, a bunch of them, between the ages of 8 to 14 or so, but that's an estimate. No adults, though..."