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“… and as a result, there was no action that could be taken to free the prisoners without loss of life on Earth’s side. Major Hernandez took it upon herself to make a Hail Sheppard play which was backe–” Wait a second, the General paused as his eyes went over those words again. ‘A Hail Sheppard? What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
General Gates was not familiar with the day-to-day operations of the Stargate Command. He knew the truth behind the cover of Deep Space Radar Telemetry, of course. It wouldn’t have done to hide a secret like that from the Joint Chiefs after all. But the only time he had to read any after action reports were due to political FUBARs. The rest usually fell on the shoulders of Lt. General Jack O’Neill.
The most recent political storm had formed when some members of the IOA had been captured by members of the Lucian Alliance on an off-world show and tell and had tried to kick up a fuss. Well, the newbies specifically, the older ones were too used to situations like these. Oh well, they would learn soon enough. If the more experienced ones had tried to file grievances every time they got into a dangerous situation, they wouldn’t have had the time to do anything else.
Although the situation had been resolved with a simple conversation between the leaders of the motherlands of the representatives, General Gates took his duty seriously. So, he went ahead and read the after-action report from Lt. Colonel Marsh, the highest-ranking officer amongst the SG teams accompanying the IOA representatives. But mid-way through the report, the General had hit a roadblock. In the report, the Lt. Colonel had mentioned the term “Hail Sheppard”. It was not terminology he was familiar with. He figured it must have something to do with the SGC.
Pressing the 2nd button on his intercom, he called out, “Cynthia!”
“Yes sir?” his aid poked her head into his office.
“Get me Major Camden, will you. I need some answers.”
“At once sir.
Major Camden was the official unofficial liaison between the SGC and the higher ups in the know about the SGC. He took requests *cough*orders*cough* from the bosses to Lt. Colonel Paul Davis and reported back with results. However, having been on a gate team before his injury, he himself was also familiar with the SGC. So, it did not come as a surprise when Cynthia came to him, telling him that General Joseph Gates had questions that he wanted him to answer. Louis walked to the end of the corridor and knocked on the imposing wooden doors with a plate stating “General Joseph Gates” door and entered once permission was granted.
“Enter” he called out. The door opened and Major Camden walked in, coming to a stop with a salute in front of his desk.
“At peace Major”
“Yes, Sir!”
“Major what do you know about a Sheppard in the SGC?”
The Major tried to keep a neutral expression but Joseph could see the confusion on his face.
“Sheppard, Sir? The only Sheppard in the SGC I know of is John Sheppard. I don’t know his current rank, but when he joined the Command, he was a Major.”
“Hmmm… Tell Cynthia to get me his file.”
Major Camden recognized the words for the dismissal they were and left the room to complete the order he was issued.
The file was not very informative. Everything about Sheppard, McMurdo onwards had been classified. And due to Goa’ulds being able to hijack a brain, despite his clearance, the only way to access the full file would be to make an in-person visit to the extremely well guarded vault where most of the data relating to the stargate was stored. With the addition of superior alien technology, it was still difficult to get his head around that sometimes, all SGC personnel files were only available as hard copies.
The file did make mention of a black mark on the Major’s record, General Gates assumed it must be Major, because a promotion in ranks was next to impossible with a black mark. He flipped back to the previous page and noted that his CO then was a Lt. Colonel Kenneth Bute. He logged on to his computer and searched his database for a Kenneth Bute. A Colonel Kenneth Bute popped up as an active-duty air force officer and scrolling through his records, the General knew it was the same person. He figured if nothing else, the CO responsible for the black mark, might be able to shed at least some light onto the whole “Hail Sheppard” mystery. Nodding to himself, the General called his aid and told her to get him a meeting with the Colonel ASAP.
As luck would have it, Kenneth Bute had been in D.C. for some schmoozing fest and was able to meet General Gates that day itself. With his cover tucked under his arm, Colonel Bute walked through the hallways of the Pentagon, making his way to the office of General Joseph Gates. He had a smug expression on his face for the world to see. After all, the Chief of Staff had asked for him by name. He was sure that his value was finally being recognized his life was going to take a turn. Unfortunately for him, he would soon find out, that while he was indeed correct in that aspect, this turn was not going to go in the direction he thought it would.
“Colonel”
“It is an honor, Sir”
He gave an acknowledging nod and motioned with his hand for the Colonel to take a seat in front of him. As the man placed his cover on the desk and sat down, Joseph slid over the non-confidential section of Sheppard’s file.
“Major John Patrick Sheppard.”
As soon as the name left his mouth, General Gates saw Colonel Bute begin to get angry and hide a sneer that made its way onto his face.
“What about that scoundrel?!” Then, seeing his raised eyebrow, the man suddenly remembered to add a subdued “Sir” to end the sentence.
“Let’s just a recent report extremely high-” he was not above being petty; he did need some entertainment in his life “-above your clearance mentioned him. I want to know what it meant.
“Get more troops killed, did he Sir?”
For all he knew, Sheppard might have. He did notice that the black mark was for disobeying orders of a superior officer. Huh… maybe a “Hail Sheppard” referred to disobeying orders… but no… the report mentioned that Colonel Andrews had backed her play. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Gates cleared his throat and asked, “What is a ‘Hail Sheppard’ Bute?”
“A ‘Hail Sheppard’ Sir?”
There was no way Bute could have faked the level of confusion in his voice. So, Joseph was reasonably certain that the terminology originated after Sheppard had joined the Command. Guess he needed Major Camden again.
Louis thought ahead. After he left the General’s office and told Cynthia took fetch the General Major Sheppard’s file, he put in a call to Lt. Colonel Davis. Brig. General John Sheppard, he found out, was quite famous in the SGC. He happened to be the Military Commander of the Atlantis Expedition and seemed to be highly respected among his fellow troops and civilians. Louis noted down a few key details he knew would be needed if General Gates summoned him again. And it turned out, he was right to do so, considering Cynthia found him again after lunch break.
“Sirs!” Major Camden saluted. Given that he quite obviously ranked higher than a Colonel, General Gates was the one who waved his hand at the Major. As the Major put his arm down, he asked, “Major, I need you to find out who Sheppard currently reports to and get me a hold of them.”
“Lt. General Jack O’Neill, Sir!”
‘O’Neill is his CO? Now that makes no sense. What would a major be doing reporting directly to the person in charge the whole project? Ah well… I’ll just ask him myself.’
“You are excused Major”
“Sirs!” the lad saluted once more and marched out of the room.
“Uh… General?” Oh, right. Colonel Bute. He’d almost forgotten about the man.
“You might as well stay and find out what happened to your airman.”
“Yes Sir”
Once again ignoring the man sitting in front of him, he used the Pentagon’s intercom system to dial Lt. General O’Neill who picked up after a single ring. Ah! Must be bored. He knew how that felt.
“O’Neill”
“O’Neill, its Gates”
“Sir”
Wow. Joseph could almost picture a slouching Jack O’Neill shooting up and sitting straight in his chair.
“I have some questions about one of the men under your command. Do you have any prior engagements?”
“No Sir.” And before he could get another word out of his mouth, the Lt. General followed up with an “I will be right there, Sir” and hung up. Joseph almost let out a quiet chuckle. Jack O'Neill was not made for life behind desks and took every opportunity to escape his own.
As the door opened, Bute stood up with a salute which Jack, in his usual fashion waved away with a “Yeah, yeah”
He shook his head slightly and told O’Neill to sit down.
“So… what can I do for your General?”
“See, I was reading a report from your project and came across a curious term. I want to know about John Sheppard.”
“Sheppard, Sir?” O’Neill discretely pointed his eyes at Colonel Bute.
“Relax. That’s Sheppard’s old CO. From Afghanistan.”
“The one who got him that black mark?”
“Yeah”
Huh. It wasn’t often that he saw Jack O’Neill angry. But somehow, despite never having met the man before, Kenneth Bute was able to light a vengeful fire in the Lt. General’s eyes. And then, as if a flip was switched, O’Neill smirked.
“Well, Brig. General John Sheppard is the Military Commander at our International base Sir”
Since Joseph was not intimately familiar with the story behind the black mark or with John Sheppard, the pointed words said by Jack did not have much of an effect on him apart from informing him of Brig. General Sheppard’s post on Atlantis. But he could see why O’Neill had emphasized on other words as he moved his eyes to look at the Colonel’s face.
The man was practically frothing at the mouth as he spluttered and asked, “BRIGADIER GENERAL!!?? How did that” Bute spat out “ruffian become a Brig. General? And what do you mean Military Commander. That man is not fit to serve! Let alone lead!”
Gates would have reprimanded Colonel Bute and reminded him of authority but the amusement he saw in O’Neill’s face stopped him. O’Neill continued on to goad the fool, saying, “Yeah. I’m glad you let him go. Poaching him was a highlight of the decade. He has been quite mission-essential you know? Even earned himself a few medals like the Flying Cross and Meritorious Service Medal.
Each word that came out of O’Neill’s mouth only made Bute redder and redder until he resembled a volcano about to erupt. Curious to learn about the reason Jack was provoking Sheppard’s old CO, he asked, “Jack, Sheppard got a black mark as a Major. How the hell did he rise up to Brig. General?”
Sheepishly Jack answered, “Ah well… you see Sir, I've been wanting to do something about that. I wanted to get that mark purged from Sheppard’s records but due to the secrecy of project Bluebook,” as it was known informally in the Pentagon “I can’t make a big move like that or people like him” Jack said pointing at Colonel Bute “will start asking questions and poking around somewhere they have no business to.”
A stern tone forming, Joseph asked, “You don't agree that disobeying orders of a higher-ranking officer calls for a serious reprimand?”
“Of course, I do. But Sheppard didn’t deserve to get reprimanded for that. What happened was…”
Flashback
“So… Sheppard” Jack took a sip from his beer, “I've been looking at getting that black mark of yours removed.”
“Sir!?” Sheppard startled and tore his eyes away from the oceans of the planet currently being known as New Lantea and turned to face Jack and gape at him, an unasked question of ‘why’ on his face.
“We both know, son, that if it was me in your place, I would have also disobeyed that moron too. No. What I want to know is why you didn’t defend yourself. I got my hands on the JAG reports. You had a solid defense, could have easily gotten off with a verbal reprimand, but you didn’t say anything and let them condemn you. Why, kid?”
Sheppard let out a sigh as he laid back on the balcony and stared at the stars. After a minute he replied, “My team was dead. Holland literally dies in my arms. There was no punishment they could come up with which would be worse than that.”
“Obviously you left out quite a bit in your official JAG reports. So, mid telling me everything that happened? It ain’t an order. Asking as a friend here, John.”
John shut his eyes tight, his memories assaulting him.
“I wasn’t on duty that day. Had been called to consult on another op.” Jack got that. He had also been commandeered a lot when he had worked black ops. Black ops forces were always in high demand.
“With sparse and likely unreliable intel, Lt. Colonel Brute gave my team the order to capture a high-level target. Probably figured it would get him some recognition and medals.”
Jack raised an eyebrow and asked, “Brute? That really his name?”
With a chuckle, John replied, “Nah. His name is actually Kenneth Bute. We all just called him Brute cause he was all pig-headed and most of us hated him.”
“Clever”
“We thought so too, Sir.”
“Not Sir, Jack.”
“Jack” John acquiesced. “Anyway, the team left and as suspected, the intel was faulty and they got hit. The news got to me when I was on my way back to the base. I asked permission to make a rescue attempt but was denied. Brute took an hour to reply and when he did, he said that the chopper I was flying was too expensive and could not be damaged for getting back corpses.”
“Bloody penny-pinchers” Jack muttered “Hate his kind”
“Yeah." John sighed. "That was when I muted his comms and went ahead with the rescue mission. Found the wreckage of their vehicle and found Holland alive. Saved him but on our way back, we were shot down by a SAM. Found out later that it was due to all the noise Brute had been making about the very expensive chopper that the insurgents knew about me in the first place.”
John shook his head and stared into Jack’s eyes and said, “I dragged Holland’s body all the way back to base. He was just 19. The kid would have been alive tight now if that bastard had cared more about a human life more than money. Hell! My entire team would be alive right now if he cared more about their safety instead of his prosperity.”
John got up and with a silent yell, full of rage, through the bottle in his hand with all his might towards the ocean where it could be heard plopping into the water.
Flashback Over
“He’s lying! That coward is lying!”
“SHUT UP” General Joseph Gates roared. “It is obvious you are the coward. Not the BRIGADIER GENERAL.” Then with a softer tone, he turned to O’Neill and said, “I’ll get it worked out and have the mark expunged from Sheppard’s file.” Shooting a stink eye at Brute, oops, he meant Bute, he continued, “Might even have it transferred over to Colonel Bute’s records. Now get lost! And you better pray I don't find any more inconsistencies in your file Colonel.”
Colonel Bute practically wet himself, scurrying out of the office.
'What a mess' General Gates thought as he massaged his forehead, trying to rid himself of the headache that was beginning to form.
“Now, since you didn’t know Sheppard’s rank, its obviously not what I was called for, Sir.”
Hearing the implied question, Joseph removed his fingers from his temple and answered, “No! All I had wanted to know was what in the name of POTUS a god damned ‘Hail Sheppard’ is!”
Hearing this, Lt. General O’Neill guffawed. Wiping away the mirth from his eyes, he replied, “The thing is that every year, at least once a year, Sheppard does a Hail Mary and survives. The marines under his command figured they should probably rename it to a ‘Hail Sheppard’ in his honor. I guess it kind of sneaked into the jargon of those in the SGC too.” O’Neill shrugged sheepishly.