Scott followed the rest of his team into a separate briefing room. This one was a bit farther down the hall where they had just left the civilians who were also going on this mission with them. At first he felt relieved to be separated from the non-military portion of his group. Finally, they were getting away from the watchful and judgmental eyes of their civilian counterparts. However, his relief quickly changed to worry; if they were all supposed to be working together why were they now being separated…<br/><br/>Once everyone was seated in this new room a colonel approached the podium at the front. He introduced himself as Colonel Miller, the new commanding officer of the off-world team on the Destiny and soon the Discovery. He would be Scott’s direct military supervisor. The colonel went into detail about a mutiny which had occurred among the crew of the Destiny. The civilians had apparently grown tired of military rule and took matters in their own hands. The problem was eventually solved however difficulties still lingered. The colonel explained that he hoped the new arrangement with civilian oversight would work to keep things under control however he fully expected Scott and his team to do their jobs as soldiers. The colonel also detailed encounters with hostile aliens that the Destiny crew had handled as well as another attack of the Lucian Alliance on the Destiny itself. These were all dangers which the civilians on the team were not being made aware of for various reasons, which sounded pretty much like political bullshit to Scott. And finally; the military personnel were instructed to obey their chain of command which did not include civilian personnel.<br/><br/>After just over 45 minutes, the rest of the troops were dismissed and told to begin the process of selecting equipment and weapons and to prepare for departure. Colonel Miller pulled Scott aside for what Scott had hoped would be his last meeting; at least until he got to his new home.<br/><br/>“Captain Hunter,” The colonel started once everyone had left the room. “I know we are asking quite a bit from you especially considering this is your first foray into the Stargate program. There are reasons you were chosen to lead this mission and not the least of them are your stellar accomplishments in your career thus far.” The colonel paused for a long moment almost daring Scott to speak up.<br/><br/>“You were also chosen because you’re an outsider so to speak. You’re new to the program. The Stargate program has become increasingly controlled by non-military personnel. Shit, we already have the damn IOA trying to run everything as it is and thanks to them, what should have been under the purview of the United States Military is instead under the control of a bunch of UN assholes!” The colonel paused as he took a large plug of chewing tobacco out of his gums and promptly inserted a fresh one.<br/><br/>“Captain, that damn Doctor Heath has a lot of pull with the IOA. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a smart lady and pretty damn good at her job but she seems to think she runs things around here. Anyway, what I’m getting at is I want you to do your job. Do what the doctor tells you to do but always remember that you’re a Marine and ultimately you answer to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the President of the United States. And you also answer to me. You have a job to protect all those people…even if you have to protect them from themselves.” The colonel spit out a large amount of poison laced saliva all the while staring hard at his new Captain. “You got that Marine?”<br/><br/>Scott stared straight at the caricature of the man standing in front of him. He did not like this guy one bit. He was an Air Force Colonel which was the first strike against him but mostly he just seemed like an arrogant prick. But Scott's face didn’t betray his thoughts. He just returned a tight smile, nodded his head and answered: “Understood sir. You can count on me.”<br/><br/>The colonel smiled back, “I know we can Captain. Good Luck! Oh, and one more thing,” He said with a pregnant pause. “No matter what happens. We cannot allow that ship to fall into the hands of the enemy. You do whatever you have to do to keep that from happening.” And with that he promptly turned and walked away without as much as a handshake. Scott smiled to himself and went to work putting together his own list of essentials. He had plenty to do to keep his mind from going over everything he just heard. That could wait for later.<br/>